3  1822  01532  0799 


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LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN 


LIFE      IN      THE.      DEEP      SEA. 

(for  description  see  list  of  illustrations  ) 


LI  FE 

AND     HER     CHIL  DREN 

GLIMPSES    OF  ANIMAL    LIFE 
FROM  THE  AMCEBA  TO  THE  INSECTS 


BY 
ARABELLA   B.  BUCKLEY 

AUTHOR    OF 


WITH   UPWARDS   OF  ONE  HUNDRED  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


'He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all.' 

— COLERIDGE. 


NEW     YORK: 
D.    APPLETON     AND     COMPANY, 

i.   3,   AND    5    BOND    STREET. 

1881. 


•  His  parent  hand, 

From  the  mute  shell-fish  gasping  on  the  shore, 
To  men,  to  angels,  to  celestial  minds, 
For  ever  leads  the  generations-  on 
To  higher  scenes  of  being  ;  while  supplied 
From  day  to  day  with  his  enlivening  breath, 
Inferior  orders  in  succession  rise 
To  fill  the  void  below.' 

AKENSIDE. — Pleasures  of  the  Imagination. 


PREFACE. 

THE  plan  of  this  work  is  so  fully  explained  in  the 
Introductory  Chapter  that  but  little  preface  is  needed. 
Its  main  object  is  to  acquaint  young  people  with  the 
structure  and  habits  of  the  lower  forms  of  life ;  and 
to  do  this  in  a  more  systematic  way  than  is  usual  in 
ordinary  works  on  Natural  History,  and  more  simply 
than  in  text-books  on  Zoology. 

For  this  reason  I  have  adopted  the  title  "  Life 
and  her  Children,"  to  express  the  family  bond  uniting 
all  living  things,  as  we  use  the  term  "  Nature  and  her 
Works,"  to  embrace  all  organic  and  inorganic  pheno- 
mena ;  and  I  have  been  more  careful  to  sketch  in 
bold  outline  the  leading  features  of  each  division, 
than  to  dwell  upon  the  minor  differences  by  which  it 
is  separated  into  groups. 

I  have  made  use  of  British  examples  in  illustration 
wherever  it  was  possible,  and  small  specimens  of  most 


vi  PREFACE. 

of  the  marine  animals  figured   may  be  found  upon 
our  coasts  at  low  tide. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  express  my  great  obliga- 
tion to  Mr.  R.  Garnett  of  the  British  Museum,  for  his 
most  kind  assistance  in  finding  works  of  reference  on 
the  special  subjects ;  and  to  many  men  of  science, 
especially  Mr.  Lowne,  F.R.C.S.,  and  Mr.  Haddon,  De- 
monstrator of  Comparative  Anatomy  at  Cambridge, 
for  their  valuable  criticisms  on  the  proof-sheets. 

The  Illustrations  of  the  marine  animals  have  been 
drawn  by  Dr.  Wild,  artist  of  the  '  Challenger'  Expedi- 
tion, and  those  of  the  insects  by  Mr.  Edwin  Wilson, 
to  both  of  whom  my  thanks  are  due  for  the  care 
and  assiduity  with  which  they  have  carried  out  my 
instructions. 

ARABELLA  B.  BUCKLEY. 


LONDON,  November  1880. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN i 

CHAPTER  II. 

LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN,  HOW  THEY  LIVE,  AND  MOVE, 

AND  BUILD         ........         14 

CHAPTER  III. 
How  SPONGES  LIVE  ........         33 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  LASSO-THROWERS  OF  THE  PONDS  AND  OCEANS     .        .        50 

CHAPTER  V. 
How  STAR-FISH  WALK  AND  SEA-URCHINS  GROW        .        .         77 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  MANTLE-COVERED   ANIMALS,  AND   HOW  THEY  LIVE 

WITH  HEADS  AND  WITHOUT  THEM       ....       103 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE,  AND  THE  ELASTIC-RINGED 

ANIMALS  BY  SEA  AND  BY  LAND   .         .-  .  135 


viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA,  WITH  RINGED  BODIES 

AND  JOINTED  FEET .       153 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  SNARE- WEAVERS  AND  THEIR  HUNTING  RELATIONS      .       178 

CHAPTER  X 
INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS  WHICH  CHANGE  THEIR  COATS 

BUT  NOT  THEIR  BODIES 2OI 

CHAPTER  XI. 
INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNAWERS  WHICH  REMODEL  THEIR 

BODIES  WITHIN  THEIR  COATS      .....       233 

CHAPTER  XII. 

INTELLIGENT    INSECTS    WITH    HELPLESS    CHILDREN,    AS 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  ANTS 269 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATE  I.  LIFE  IN  THE  DEEP  SEA. — i.  Sea- Lily,  Pentacrinm 
asteria.  2.  Sponge,  Etiplectella  aspergillum.  3.  Coral,  Lopho- 
kelia  prolifera.  4.  Sea-Urchin,  Echinus  elegans.  5.  Basket-fish, 
Asterophyton  linkii.  6.  Sea-cucumber,  Cladodactyla  crocca.  7. 
Jelly-fish,  Pelagia  noctilnca.  8.  Pteropod,  Clio  pyramidata. 

FRONTISPIECE. 

PLATE  II.  INSECT  LIFE. — I.  Ant-Lion  in  its  pit  with  whole  insect 
shown  above.  la.  Ant-lion  flying.  2.  Tiger- Beetle,  Cicin- 
dela  campestris.  3.  Bombardier  Beetle,  Brachinus  crepitans. 
4.  Burying  Beetle,  Necrophorus  interrtiptus.  5.  Cock-tail  Beetle, 
Staphylinns  olers.  6.  Swallow -tailed  Butterfly,  Papilio  Mac- 
haon  ........  to  face  p.  135 


ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   THE  TEXT. 

PAGE 

The  Thread-slime,  Frotogenes  .         .  •   ,,       ,         .         .16 

The  Finger  Slime,  Protamazba          .         .         .       .  ,         .         .        18 

Infusoria,  Monas,  Noctihica,  Vorticella 20 

Foraminifera,  Miliola,  Globigerina>  etc.    .          .          ...        23 

Jelly-body  of  a  Miliolite . 24 

Nummulite,  showing  the  chambers 27 

Sun-Slime,  Physemathim  ...  .  .  ,  ,  .29 
The  Flint  Shells  of  Radiolarice  or  Polycistinse  .  , .  .  .  30 
A  fragment  of  bath-sponge  magnified  .....  34 

A  British  sponge  found  at  Brighton 37 

A  Sponge-egg  and  the  young  sponge  swimming  ...  38 
Development  of  a  young  English  sponge  .....  39 
Section  of  a  bath-sponge,  showing  the  chambers  .  .  .41 


x  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PACK 

A  Lime-sponge  with  the  living  flesh 44 

Spicules  of  flint-sponges  ........       45 

Sarcode  or  flesh  of  a  flint-sponge  with  the  spicules    ...       46 
Venus'  Basket.     The  skeleton  of  a  flint-sponge          ...        47 
Cup-sponge  growing  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea   ....       48 

Fresh  -  water  hydra  hanging  from  duckweed       .         .         .         .        5 1 

Lasso-celis  of  the  Hydra  and  Sea- Anemone       ....       53 

The  Sea-Oak,  SerinZaria 56 

The  Campanulina,  an  animal-tree  giving  off  jelly-bells        .         .        59 

A  jelly-fish,  Chrysoara  hysocella 63 

The  childhood  of  the  same  jelly-fish 65 

Section  of  a  Sea- Anemone  showing  its  parts  ....  67 
Group  of  Sea- Anemones  .  .  .  .  .  .  .68 

Growth  of  Red  Coral 72 

A  section  of  a  piece  of  Red  Coral  ......        73 

A  piece  of  White  Coral          .          ......        74 

The  Devonshire  Cup-Coral,  Caryophylliutn  Smythii  .         .        75 

The  infancy  of  a  Feather  Star-fish  .          .          ...          .          -78 

The  infancy  of  a  Brittle  Star-fish 79 

The  infancy  of  the  common  Star-fish        .....        80 

The  infancy  of  a  Sea-Urchin .          .          .          .          .          .          .81 

The  infancy  of  a  Sea-Cucumber      ......       82 

The  common  five-fingered  Star-fish  and  the  Brittle  Star-fish        .       84 
Section  of  the  centre  and  of  one  ray  of  a  Star-fish      ...       85 
The  life  of  a  Feather- Star      .......        90 

A  Sea-Urchin  walking  on  a  rock     .          .          .          ...        94 

A  Sea-Urchin  with  its  spines  rubbed  off .         .          .          .          -95 

An  Oyster  (Ostrea  edulis)  lying  in  the  shell,  showing  the  gills, 

mouth,  etc 108 

A  group  of  headless  Mollusca,  Cockle,  Mussel,  Scallop,  and  Razor-fish  1 1 1 
Mollusca  with  heads,  Vegetable-feeders,  Limpet  and  Periwinkle  114 

The  anatomy  of  a  Periwinkle 115 

Flesh-feeding  Molluscs,  Whelk  and  Cowry  .  .  .  .118 
Garden  Snail,  Great  Grey  Slug,  and  Testacella  .  .  .122 
Naked -gilled  Mollusca  or  sea-slugs,  Doris pilosa  and  Eolis  coronata  1 24 
Oceanic  Mollusca,  lanthina,  Carinaria,  and  a  Pteropod  .  .125 
Octopus  shooting  backwards  through  the  water  .  .  .127 
The  Mother  Argonaut  floating  in  the  water  .  .  .  .132 
Land-Leeches  of  Ceylon  racing  to  attack  some  creature  .  .  143 
Section  of  a  Leech  showing  the  nervous  system  .  .  1 44 


ILL  USTRA  TIONS.  xi 

PAGB 

A  group  of  fixed  Sea- Worms — Serpula,  Terebella,  and  Spirorbis  148 
Active  Sea- worms,  Aphrodite  or  sea-mouse,  and  Nereis  .  .  151 
A  group  of  jointed-footed  animals,  Arthropoda,  showing  their 

ringed  bodies .         .         . 155 

The  Common  Prawn       .         .          .          .         .          .         .         .160 

Sandhopper  (Talilrus}  and  Skeleton  Shrimp  (Caprellq)      .         .      163 
Section  of  a  prawn  ;  and  forepart  with  carapace  removed  show- 
ing the  branchise 164 

Metamorphoses  of  a  Crab         .         .         .         .         .         .         .167 

Hermit-crabs  in  and  out  of  the  shell 170 

Floating  Barnacles,  Lepas,  with  a  bank  of  fixed  Acorn-Barnacles, 

Balanus          .         .         .         .         .         .         •        •         .174 

Development  of  the  Acorn  Barnacle          .         .         •  •       •         .176 
A  Scorpion  with  a  Cricket  in  its  claws     .  ,         .         .179 

The  parts  of  a  Spider     .         .         .         .         .         .         .          .183 

Web  of  the  garden  spider  .  .  .  ,  ,  .  .185 
Nest  of  a  trap-door  spider  ..«•»..  192 

A  hunting  spider  with  a  bag  of  eggs 195 

The  Water- Spider,  Argyroneta  aquatica   .         .         ,         .         .197 
Aphides  or  plant-lice,  with  a  grub  feeding  on  them  .         .          .     202 
The  Cuckoo-spit  insect  (Aphrophora  spumaria)  '        ...        .     206 

The  Water-Measurer  (Gerris)  and  Water-Boatman  (Notonecta)     .     208 
The  large  Green  Grasshopper,  its  changes  and  its  egg-laying       .     211 
Spiracle  and  breathing-tube  of  an  insect    .         .         .         .         .212 

Cockroaches — Young,  male,  and  female,  with  egg-case       .         .216 
May-flies  (Ephemera)  and  Caddis-flies  (Phryganea]  with  their  grubs    220 
Dragon-fly,  with  the  grub  and  the  insect  emerging     .         .         .     223 
Section  of  an  insect's  eye          .         .         .         .         .         .         .224 

African  Termites — king,  queen,  worker,  and  soldier .          .          .     226 

Queen  Termite  cell  with  queen  within 228 

Butterfly's  head,  caterpillar's  head  and  cushion-foot,  a  butterfly's 

£gg 237 

Caterpillar,   chrysalis,  and  perfect  insect,   of  the  Tortoise-shell 

butterfly 239 

Caterpillar  and  chrysalis  of  Cabbage  Butterfly  ....  243 
Caterpillar,  cocoon,  and  moth  of  the  six-spot  Burnet  .  .  246 

Psyche  gramitiella,  caterpillar  and  moth 247 

Clothes-Moth  with  grub  and  pupa   ......     249 

Cockchafer  grub,  cocoon,  and  beetle         .....     252 

The  Nut-weevil,  maggot  and  beetle          .  254 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PACK 

Carnivorous    Beetles,    Dyticus    marginalis,    and    the    whirligig 

beetles 257 

Daddy-long-legs,  showing  the  balancers    .....  262 
Common  Gnat,   grub,  pupa,  insect  emerging  and  gnat  on  the 

wing 264 

The  Hill  Ant,  Formica  rtifa,  and  House  Ant,  Myrmica  molesta, 

and  their  structure 271 

Ant's  Head  and  Foot,  showing  the  mouth-parts  and  the  leg-combs  273 

Section  of  an  Ants'  nest,  from  Figuier 279 

Cleared  disk  of  the  agricultural  ant's  nest          ....  295 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Wisdom  and  Spirit  of  the  Universe  ! 
Thou  Soul,  that  art  the  Eternity  of  Thought ! 
And  giv'st  to  forms  and  images  a  breath 
And  everlasting  motion! — WORDSWORTH. 


WONDER  whether  it  ever 
occurs  to  most  people  to  con- 
sider how  brimful  our  world  is 
ju  of  life,  and  what  a  different  place 
it  would  be  if  no  living  thing  had 
ever  been  upon  it  ?  From  the  time 
we  are  born  till  we  die,  there  is 
scarcely  a  waking  moment  of  our 
lives  in  which  our  eyes  do  not 
rest  either  upon  some  living  thing, 
or  upon  things  which  have  once 
been  alive.  Even  in  our  rooms, 
the  wood  of  our  furniture  and  our 
doors  could  never  have  been  with- 
out the  action  of  life  ;  the  paper  on  our  walls,  the 
carpet  on  our  floors,  the  clothes  on  our  back,  the 
cloth  upon  the  table,  are  all  made  of  materials  which 
life  has  produced  for  us  ;  nay,  the  very  marble  of 


2  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

our  mantelpiece  is  the  work  of  once  living  animals, 
and  is  composed  of  their  broken  shells.  The  air  we 
breathe  is  full  of  invisible  germs  of  life  ;  nor  need 
we  leave  the  town  and  go  to  the  country  in  search 
of  other  living  beings  than  man.  There  is  scarcely 
a  street  or  alley  where,  if  it  be  neglected  for  a 
time,  some  blade  of  grass  or  struggling  weed  does 
not  make  its  appearance,  pushing  its  way  through 
chinks  in  the  pavement  or  the  mortar  in  the  wall  ; 
no  spot  from  which  we  cannot  see  some  insect  creep- 
ing, or  flying,  or  spinning  its  web,  so  long  as  the 
hand  of  man  does  not  destroy  it. 

And  when  we  go  into  the  quiet  country,  leaving 
man  and  his  works  behind,  how  actively  we  find  life 
employed  !  Covering  every  inch  of  the  ground  with 
tiny  plants,  rearing  tall  trees  in  the  forest,  filling  the 
stagnant  pools  full  of  eager  restless  beings  ;  anywhere, 
everywhere,  life  is  at  work.  Look  at  the  little  water- 
beetles  skimming  on  the  surface  of  the  shady  wayside 
pool,  watch  the  snails  feeding  on  the  muddy  bank, 
notice  the  newts  putting  their  heads  above  water 
to  take  breath,  and  then  remember  that,  besides  these 
and  innumerable  other  animals  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
the  fairy-shrimp  and  the  water-flea,  and  other  minute 
creatures,  are  probably  darting  across  the  pond,  or 
floating  lazily  near  its  surface  ;  while  the  very  scum 
which  is  blown  in  ridges  towards  one  corner  of  the 
pool  is  made  up  of  microscopic  animals  and  plants. 

Then,  as  we  pass  over  plain,  and  valley,  and 
mountain,  we  find  things  creeping  innumerable,  both 
small  and  great ;  some  hidden  in  the  moss  or  the  thick 
grass,  rolled  up  in  the  leaves,  boring  into  the  stems 
and  trunks  of  trees,  eating  their  way  underground  or 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  3 

into  even  the  strongest  rock  ;  while  others,  such  as 
the  lion,  the  tiger,  and  the  elephant,  roaming  over 
Africa  and  India,  rule  a  world  of  their  own  where 
man  counts  for  very  little.  Even  in  our  own  thickly 
peopled  country  rabbits  multiply  by  thousands  in 
their  burrows,  and  come  to  frolic  in  the  dusk  of 
evening  when  all  is  still.  The  field-mice,  land  and 
water  rats,  squirrels,  weasels,  and  badgers,  have  their 
houses  above  and  below  ground,  while  countless  in- 
sects swarm  everywhere,  testifying  to  the  abundance  of 
life.  Not  content,  moreover,  with  filling  the  water 
and  covering  the  land,  this  same  silent  power  peoples 
the  atmosphere,  where  bats,  butterflies,  bees,  and 
winged  insects  of  all  forms,  shapes,  and  colours, 
fight  their  way  through  the  ocean  of  air  ;  while  birds, 
large  and  small,  sail  among  its  invisible  waves. 

And  when  by  and  by  we  reach  the  sea,  we  find 
there  masses  of  tangled  seaweed,  the  plants  of  the 
salt  water,  while  all  along  the  shores  myriads  of 
living  creatures  are  left  by  the  receding  tide.  In 
the  rocky  pools  we  find  active  life  busily  at  work. 
Thousands  of  acorn-shells,  many  of  them  scarcely 
larger  than  the  head  of  a  good-sized  pin,  cover  the 
rocks  and  wave  their  delicate  fringes  in  search  of  food. 
Small  crabs  scramble  along,  or  swim  across  the  pools, 
sand-skippers  dart  through  the  water,  feeding  on  the 
delicate  green  seaweed,  which  in  its  turn  is  covered 
with  minute  shells  not  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and 
yet  each  containing  a  living  being. 

Wherever  we  go,  living  creatures  are  to  be  found, 
and  even  if  we  sail  away  over  the  deep  silent  ocean 
and  seek  what  is  in  its  depths,  there  again  we  find 
abundance  of  life,  from  the  large  fish  and  other  mon- 


4  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

sters  which  glide  noiselessly  along,  lords  of  the  ocean, 
down  to  the  jelly-masses  floating  on  the  surface,  and 
the  banks  of  rocky  coral  built  by  jelly  -  animals 
in  the  midst  of  the  dashing  waves.  There  is  no 
spot  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  in  the  depths  of 
the  ocean,  or  in  the  lower  currents  of  the  air,  which 
is  not  filled  with  life  whenever  and  wherever  there  is 
room.  The  one  great  law  which  all  living  beings 
obey  is  to  "increase,  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth;"  and  there  has  been  no  halting  in  this  work 
from  the  day  when  first  into  our  planet  from  the 
bosom  of  the  great  Creator  was  breathed  the  breath 
of  life, — the  invisible  mother  ever  taking  shape  in 
her  children. 

No  matter  whether  there  is  room  for  more  living 
forms  or  not,  still  they  are  launched  into  the  world. 
The  little  seed,  which  will  be  stifled  by  other  plants 
before  it  can  put  forth  its  leaves,  nevertheless  thrusts 
its  tiny  root  into  the  ground  and  tries  to  send  a 
feeble  shoot  upwards.  Thousands  and  millions  of 
insects  are  born  into  the  world  every  moment,  which 
can  never  live  because  there  is  not  food  enough  for 
all.  If  there  were  only  one  single  plant  in  the  whole 
world  to-day,  and  it  produced  fifty  seeds  in  a  year 
and  could  multiply  unchecked,  its  descendants  would 
cover  the  whole  globe  in  nine  years/""  But,  since 
other  plants  prevent  it  from  spreading,  thousands  and 
thousands  of  its  seeds  and  young  plants  must  be 
formed  only  to  perish.  In  the  same  way  one  pair, 
of  birds  having  four  young  ones  each  year,  would,  if 
all  their  children  and  descendants  lived  and  multi- 
plied, produce  two  thousand  million  in  fifteen  years, f 
*  Huxley.  t  Wallace. 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  5 

but  since  there  is  not  room  for  them,  all  but  a  very 
few  must  die. 

What  can  be  the  use  of  this  terrible  overcrowding 
in  our  little  world  ?  Why  does  this  irresistible  living 
breath  go  on  so  madly,  urging  one  little  being  after 
another  into  existence  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  if 
only  enough  were  born  to  have  plenty  of  room  and 
to  live  comfortably? 

Wait  a  while  before  you  decide,  and  think  what 
every  creature  needs  to  keep  it  alive.  Plants,  it  is 
true,  can  live  on  water  and  air,  but  animals  cannot ; 
and  if  there  were  not  myriads  of  plants  to  spare  in 
the  world,  there  would  not  be  enough  for  food. 
Then  consider  again  how  many  animals  live  upon 
each  other ;  if  worms,  snails,  and  insects,  were  not 
over-abundant,  how  would  the  birds  live  ?  upon  what 
would  lions,  and  tigers,  and  wolves  feed  if  other 
animals  were  not  plentiful  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  a  great  number  of  larger  animals  did  not  die  and 
decay,  what  would  the  flesh -feeding  snails,  and 
maggots,  and  other  insects  find  to  eat  ?  And  so  we 
see  that  for  this  reason  alone  there  is  some  excuse 
for  the  over-abundance  of  creatures  which  life  thrusts 
into  the  world. 

But  there  is  something  deeper  than  this  to  con- 
sider. If  in  a  large  school  every  boy  had  a  prize 
at  the  end  of  the  half-year,  whether  he  had  worked 
or  not,  do  you  think  all  the  boys  would  work  as 
hard  as  they  do  or  learn  as  well  ?  If  every  man 
had  all  he  required,  and  could  live  comfortably,  and 
bring  up  his  children  to  enjoy  life  without  working 
for  it,  do  you  think  people  would  take  such  trouble 
to  learn  trades  and  professions,  and  to  improve  them- 


6  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

selves  so  as  to  be  more  able  than  others  ?  Would 
they  work  hard  day  and  night  to  make  new  inven- 
tions, or  discover  new  lands,  and  found  fresh  colonies, 
or  be  in  any  way  so  useful,  or  learn  so  much  as  they 
do  now  ? 

No,  it  is  the  struggle  for  life  and  the  necessity 
for  work  which  makes  people  invent,  and  plan,  and 
improve  themselves  and  things  around  them.  And 
so  it  is  also  with  plants  and  animals.  Life  has  to 
educate  all  her  children,  and  she  does  it  by  giving 
the  prize  of  success,  health,  strength,  and  enjoyment 
to  those  who  can  best  fight  the  battle  of  existence, 
and  do  their  work  best  in  the  world. 

Every  plant  and  every  animal  which  is  born  upon 
the  earth  has  to  get  its  own  food  and  earn  its  own 
livelihood,  and  to  protect  itself  from  the  attacks  of 
others.  Would  the  spider  toil  so  industriously  to 
spin  her  web  if  food  came  to  her  without  any 
exertion  on  her  part  ?  Would  the  caddis  worm 
have  learnt  to  build  a  tube  of  sand  and  shells  to 
protect  its  soft  body,  or  the  oyster  to  take  lime  from 
the  sea-water  to  form  a  strong  shell  for  its  home,  if 
they  had  no  enemies  to  struggle  against,  and  needed 
no  protection  ?  Would  the  bird  have  learnt  to  build 
her  nest  or  the  beaver  his  house  if  there  was  no  need 
for  their  industry  ? 

But  as  it  is,  since  the  whole  world  is  teeming 
with  life,  and  countless  numbers  of  seeds  and  eggs 
and  young  beginnings  of  creatures  are  only  waiting 
for  the  chance  to  fill  any  vacant  nook  or  corner, 
every  living  thing  must  learn  to  do  its  best  and  to 
find  the  place  where  it  can  succeed  best  a.nd  is  least 
likely  to  be  destroyed  by  others.  And  so  it  comes  to 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  7 

pass  that  the  whole  planet  is  used  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, and  life  teaches  her  children  to  get  all  the  good 
out  of  it  that  they  can. 

If  the  ocean  and  the  rivers  be  full,  then  some 
must  learn  to  live  on  the  land,  and  so  we  have  for 
example  sea-snails  and  land-snails  ;  and  whereas 
the  one  kind  can  only  breathe  by  gills  in  the  water, 
the  other  breathes  air  by  means  of  air-chambers, 
while  between  these  are  some  marsh -snails  of  the 
tropics,  which  combine  both,  and  can  breathe  in  both 
water  and  air.  We  have  large  whales  sailing  as 
monarchs  of  the  ocean,  and  walruses  and  seals  fish- 
ing in  its  depths  for  their  food,  while  all  other 
animals  of  the  mammalian  class  live  on  the  land. 

Then,  again,  while  many  creatures  love  the  bright 
light,  others  take  advantage  of  the  dark  corners 
where  room  is  left  for  them  to  live.  You  can  scarcely 
lift  a  stone  by  the  seaside  without  finding  some 
living  thing  under  it,  nor  turn  up  a  spadeful  of 
earth  without  disturbing  some  little  creature  which 
is  content  to  find  its  home  and  its  food  in  the  dark 
ground.  Nay,  many  animals  for  whom  there  is  no 
chance  of  life  on  the  earth,  in  the  water,  or  in  the 
air,  find  a  refuge  in  the  bodies  of  other  animals  and 
feed  on  them. 

But  in  order  that  all  these  creatures  may  live, 
each  in  its  different  way,  they  must  have  their  own 
particular  tools  to  work  with,  and  weapons  with 
which  to  defend  themselves.  Now  all  the  tools  and 
weapons  of  an  animal  grow  upon  its  body.  It 
works  and  fights  with  its  teeth,  its  claws,  its  tail,  its 
sting,  or  its  feelers  ;  or  it  constructs  cunning  traps 
by  means  of  material  which  it  gives  out  from  its  own 


8  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

body,  like  the  spider.  It  hides  from  its  enemies 
by  having  a  shape  or  colour  like  the  rocks  or  the 
leaves,  the  grass  or  the  water,  which  surround  it.  It 
provides  for  its  young  ones  either  by  getting  food  for 
them,  or  by  putting  them,  even  before  they  come  out 
of  the  egg,  into  places  where  their  food  is  ready  for 
them  as  soon  as  they  are  born. 

So  that  the  whole  life  of  an  animal  depends  upon 
the  way  in  which  its  body  is  made  ;  and  it  willlead 
quite  a  different  existence  according  to  the  kind  of 
tools  with  which  life  provides  it,  and  the  instincts 
which  a  long  education  has  been  teaching  to  its 
ancestors  for  ages  past.  It  will  have  its  own  peculiar 
struggles,  and  difficulties,  and  successes,  and  enjoy- 
ments, according  to  the  kind  of  bodily  powers  which 
it  possesses,  and  the  study  of  these  helps  us  to  under- 
stand its  manner  of  existence. 

And  now,  since  we  live  in  the  world  with  all 
these  numerous  companions,  which  lead,  many  of 
them,  such  curious  lives,  trying  like  ourselves  to  make 
the  best  of  their  short  time  here,  is  it  not  worth 
while  to  learn  something  about  them  ?  May  we  not 
gain  some  useful  hints  by  watching  their  contrivances, 
sympathising  with  their  difficulties,  and  studying 
their  history?  And  above  all,  shall  we  not  have 
something  more  to  love  and  to  care  for  when  we 
have  made  acquaintance  with  some  of  Life's  other 
children  besides  ourselves  ? 

The  one  great  difficulty,  however,  in  our  way,  is 
how  to  make  acquaintance  with  such  a  vast  multitude. 
Most  of  us  have  read  anecdotes  about  one  animal  or 
another,  but  this  does  not  give  us  any  clue  to  the 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  9 

history  of  the  whole  animal  world  ;  and  without  some 
such  clue,  the  few  observations  we  can  make  for  our- 
selves are  very  unsatisfactory.  On  the  other  hand, 
most  people  will  confess  that  books  on  zoology,  where 
accounts  are  given  of  the  structure  of  different  classes 
of  animals,  though  very  necessary,  are  rather  dull, 
and  do  not  seem  to  help  us  much  towards  under- 
standing and  loving  these  our  fellow-creatures. 

What  we  most  want  to  learn  is  something  of  the 
lives  of  the  different  classes  of  animals,  so  that  when 
we  see  some  creature  running  away  from  us  in  the 
woods,  or  swimming  in  a  pond,  or  darting  through 
the  air,  or  creeping  on  the  ground,  we  may  have  an 
idea  what  its  object  is  in  life — how  it  is  enjoying 
itself,  what  food  it  is  seeking,  or  from  what  enemy 
it  is  flying. 

And  fortunately  for  us  there  is  an  order  and 
arrangement  in  this  immense  multitude,  and  in  the 
same  way  as  we  can  read  and  understand  the  history 
of  the  different  nations  which  form  the  great  human 
family  spread  over  the  earth,  and  can  enter  into  their 
feelings  and  their  struggles  though  we  cannot  know 
all  the  people  themselves  ;  so  with  a  little  trouble  we 
may  learn  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  general  life 
and  habits  of  the  different  branches  of  the  still 
greater  family  of  Life,  so  as  to  be  ready,  by  and  by, 
to  make  personal  acquaintance  with  any  particular 
creature  if  he  comes  in  our  way. 

This  is  what  we  propose  to  do  in  the  following 
chapters,  and  we  must  first  consider  what  are  the 
chief  divisions  of  our  subject,  and  over  what  ground 
we  have  to  travel.  It  is  clear  that  both  plants  and 
animals  are  the  children  of  Life,  and  indeed  among 


io  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

the  simplest  living  forms  it  is  often  difficult  to  say 
whether  they  are  plants  or  animals. 

But  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  follow  out  the 
history  of  both  these  great  branches  or  Kingdoms, 
as  naturalists  call  them,  so  we  must  reluctantly  turn 
our  backs  for  the  present  upon  the  wonderful  secrets 
of  plant  life,  and  give  ourselves  up  in  this  work  to 
the  study  of  animals. 

First  we  meet  with  those  simple  forms  which 
manage  so  cleverly  to  live  without  any  separate 
parts  with  which  to  do  their  work.  Marvellous 
little  beings  these,  which  live,  and  move,  and 
multiply  in  a  way  quite  incomprehensible  as  yet  to 
us.  Next  we  pass  on  to  the  slightly  higher  forms 
of  the  second  division  of  life,  in  which  the  members 
have  some  simple  weapons  of  attack  and  defence. 
Here  we  come  first  upon  the  wonderful  living  sponge, 
building  its  numerous  canals,  which  are  swept  by 
special  scavengers  ;  these  form  a  sort  of  separate 
group,  hovering  between  the  first  and  second  division, 
and  from  them  we  go  on  to  the  travelling  jelly-fish, 
with  their  rudiments  of  eyes  and  ears,  and  their 
benumbing  sting,  and  then  to  the  sea-anemones  with 
their  lasso-cells,  and  to  the  wondrous  coral-builders. 
Already  we  are  beginning  to  find  that  the  need  of 
defence  causes  life  to  arm  her  children. 

The  third  division  is  a  small,  yet  most  curious  one, 
containing  the  star-fish  with  their  countless  sucker-feet, 
the  sea-urchins  with  their  delicate  sharp  spines  and 
curious  teeth,  and  the  sea -cucumbers  with  their 
power  of  throwing  away  the  inside  of  their  body 
and  growing  it  afresh.  This  division  goes  off  in 
one  direction,  while  the  next,  or  fourth,  though  start- 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  II 

ing  with  creatures  almost  as  simple  as  the  coral- 
builders,  takes  quite  a  different  line,  having  for  its 
members  mussels  and  snails,  cuttle-fish  and  oysters, 
and  dividing  into  two  curious  groups  :  the  one  of 
the  shell-fish  with  heads,  and  the  other  of  those 
without  any. 

The  fifth  division,  starting  also  in  its  own  line  by 
the  side  of  the  third  and  fourth,  includes  the  creeping 
worms  provided  with  quite  a  different  set  of  weapons, 
and  working  in  their  own  peculiar  fashion,  some  living 
in  the  water,  some  on  the  earth,  and  some  in  the  flesh 
of  other  beings,  feeding  upon  their  living  tissues.  An 
ugly  division  this,  and  yet  when  we  come  to  study  it 
we  shall  find  it  full  of  curious  forms  showing  strange 
habits  and  ways. 

The  sixth  division  is  a  vast  army  in  itself,  with 
four  chief  groups  all  agreeing  in  their  members 
having  jointed  feet,  and  subdivided  into  smaller 
groups  almost  without  number.  The  first  group, 
including  the  crabs  and  their  companions,  live  in  the 
water,  and  their  weapons  are  so  varied  and  numerous 
that  it  will  be  difficult  for  us  even  to  gain  some 
general  idea  of  them.  The  other  three  groups,  the 
centipedes,  spiders,  and  six -legged  insects,  breathe 
only  in  the  air.  This  sixth  or  jointed-legged  division 
contains  more  than  four- fifths  of  the  whole  of  the 
living  beings  on  our  globe,  and  it  forms  a  world 
of  its  own,  full  of  interest  and  wonders.  In  it  we 
have  all  the  strange  facts  of  metamorphosis,  the 
wondrous  contrivances  and  constructions  of  insect- 
life,  and  at  the  head  of  it  those  clever  societies  of 
wasps,  bees,  and  ants,  with  laws  sometimes  even 
nearer  to  perfection  than  those  of  man  himself. 

Lastly  we  come  to  the  seventh  and  vast  division 
2 


12  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

of  back-boned  animals  which  will  claim  a  separate 
volume  to  itself.  This  division  has  struggled  side 
by  side  with  the  other  six  till  it  has  won  a  position 
in  many  respects  above  them  all.  Nearly  all  the 
animals  which  we  know  best  belong  to  it, — the  fishes, 
toads,  and  newts  (amphibia),  the  reptiles,  the  birds, 
and  the  mammalia,  including  all  our  four-footed 
animals,  as  well  as  the  whales,  seals,  monkeys,  and 
man  himself. 

Under  these  seven  divisions  then  are  grouped  the 
whole  of  the  living  animals  as  they  are  spread  over 
the  earth  to  fight  the  battle  of  life.  Though  in  many 
places  the  battle  is  fierce,  and  each  one  must  fight 
remorselessly  for  himself  and  his  little  ones,  yet  the 
struggle  consists  chiefly  in  all  the  members  of  the 
various  brigades  doing  their  work  in  life  to  the  best 
of  their  power,  so  that  all,  while  they  live,  may  lead 
a  healthy,  active  existence. 

The  little  bird  is  fighting  his  battle  when  he 
builds  his  nest  and  seeks  food  for  his  mate  and  his 
little  ones  ;  and  though  in  doing  this  he  must  kill  the 
worm,  and  may  perhaps  by  and  by  fall  a  victim 
himself  to  the  hungry  hawk,  yet  the  worm  heeds 
nothing  of  its  danger  till  its  life  comes  to  an  end, 
and  the  bird  trills  his  merry  song  after  his  break- 
fast and  enjoys  his  life  without  thinking  of  perils 
to  come. 

"  While  ravening  death  of  slaughter  ne'er  grows  weary, 
Life  multiplies  the  immortal  meal  as  fast. 
All  are  devourers,  all  in  turn  devoured, 
Yet  every  unit  in  the  uncounted  sum 
Of  victims  has  its  share  of  bliss — its  pang, 
And  but  a  pang  of  dissolution  :  each 
Is  happy  till  its  moment  comes,  and  then 
Its  first,  last  suffering,  unforeseen,  unfear'd, 
Ends  with  one  struggle  pain  and  life  for  ever." 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  13 

So  life  sends  her  children  forth,  and  it  remains 
for  us  to  learn  something  of  their  history.  If  we 
could  but  know  it  all,  and  the  thousands  of  different 
ways  in  which  the  beings  around  us  struggle  and 
live,  we  should  be  overwhelmed  with  wonder.  Even 
as  it  is  we  may  perhaps  hope  to  gain  such  a  glimpse 
of  the  labours  of  this  great  multitude  as  may  lead  us 
to  wish  to  fight  our  own  battle  bravely,  and  to  work, 
and  strive,  and  bear  patiently,  if  only  that  we  may 
be  worthy  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the  vast  family  of 
Life's  children. 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER   II. 

LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN  :    HOW  THEY  LIVE,  AND 
MOVE,  AND  BUILD. 


"  The  very  meanest  things  are  made  supreme 
With  innate  ecstasy.     No  grain  of  sand 
But  moves  a  bright  and  million-peopled  land, 
And  hath  its  Edens  and  its  Eves,  I  deem. 
For  love,  though  blind  himself,  a  curious  eye 
Hath  lent  me,  to  behold  the  heart  of  things, 
And  touched  mine  ear  with  power.     Thus,  far  or  nigh, 
Minute  or  mighty,  fixed  or  free  with  wings, 
Delight,  from  many  a  nameless  covert  sly, 
Peeps  sparkling,  and  in  tones  familiar  sings. 

LAMAN  BLANCHARD. 


'HO  are  Life's  simplest  children, 

and  where  are  they  to  be  found  ? 

Let  us  try  to  answer  the  second 
question  first,  and  rubbing  the 
scales  from  off  our  eyes,  peer  into 
the  hidden  secrets  of  nature  ;  and 
when  we  have  tracked  to  their 
home  the  tiny  beginnings  of  life, 
we  will  examine  them  and  try  to 
understand  how  they  live. 

How  calm,  and  lovely,  and 
still  the  sea  looks  on  a  warm, 
sunny,  breezeless  day  of  summer, 
and  how  happy  we  can  imagine 
the  myriads  of  creatures  to  be 
that  float  in  its  waters  !  We  know  many  of  them 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  15 

well,  especially  those  which  come  close  up  to  the 
shore.  The  small  fry  of  the  fish,  the  shrimp  arid  the 
sand-hopper,  the  large  jelly-fish,  and  the  tiny  trans- 
parent jelly-bells  (see  3',  Fig.  2 2), only  to  be  seen  by  the 
keenest  eye,  as  we  dip  out  the  water  carefully  in  a 
glass.  Surely  these  minute  jelly-bells  with  their  in- 
visible hanging  threads  must  be  some  of  the  simplest 
and  lowest  forms  of  life.  Not  so,  they  are  really 
very  high  up  in  the  world  compared  with  the  forms 
we  are  seeking. 

If,  indeed,  we  come  out  late  some  autumn  evening 
when,  after  the  sun  has  set  and  the  sky  is  dark,  the 
sea  in  some  sheltered  bay  appears  all  covered  with 
a  sheet  of  light,  we  may  see  some  of  the  beings 
of  the  lowest  order  of  life  with  the  naked  eye  ;  for 
when  we  dip  the  liquid  fire  out  in  a  glass  vessel  and 
examine  it,  we  find  in  it  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
tiny  bags  of  slime  giving  out  the  bright  specks  of 
light,  and  these  little  Noctilucae,  or  night-glows  (2, 
Fig.  3),  are,  as*  we  shall  presently  see,  some  of  Life's 
simplest  children,  although  not  by  any  means  the 
most  simple  of  the  order. 

No  ;  to  begin  at  the  very  beginning  and  find  the 
first  known  attempts  at  a  living  being,  we  must 
search  long  and  carefully,  not  merely  with  our 
own  eyes,  but  with  the  microscope.  Then  we  may 
perhaps  be  fortunate  enough  to  discover  some  won- 
drously  small  creature  like  that  on  the  next  page, 
which  Professor  Haeckel  took  out  of  the  sunny  blue 
waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  near  Nice,  in  1864. 
The  largest  specimen  to  be  found  will  be  smaller 
than  the  smallest  pin's  head,  yet  when  seen  under 
the  microscope,  this  tiny  speck  appears  with  out- 


1 6  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

stretched  threads,  a  living  animal  (see  tf,Fig.  i),  floating 
in  search  of  food.  Examine  it  how  we  will,  we  can 
find  in  it  no  mouth,  no  stomach,  no  muscles,  no 
nerves,  no  parts  of  any  kind.  It  looks  merely  like 

Fig.  i. 


The  Thread-slime.* — Haeckel. 

a,  In  its  natural  round  shape,  immensely  magnified ;  b,  spreading  itself 
over  a  small  animal,  c  (Ceratium),  to  suck  the  soft  body  out  of  the  shell. 

a  minute  drop  of  gum  with  fine  grains  in  it,  floating 
in  the  water,  sometimes  with  its  fine  threads  out- 
stretched, sometimes  as  a  mere  drop  ;  and  if  we  take 
it  out  and  analyse  the  matter  of  which  it  is  made, 
we  find  that  is  much  the  same  as  a  speck  of  white- 
of-egg.  Is  it  possible  that  it  can  be  alive  ?  How  can 
we  be  sure  ?  In  the  first  place  it  breathes.  If  it  be 
kept  in  a  drop  of  water,  it  uses  up  the  oxygen  in 
it,  and  makes  the  water  bad,  by  breathing  into  it 
carbonic  acid  ;  then  it  moves,  and,  as  we  shall  see 
presently,  can  draw  in  and  throw  out  its  fine  threads 
when  and  where  it  chooses  ;  again  it  eats,  feeding  on 
the  minute  jelly -plants  in  the  water,  or  even  on 

*  Protogenes. 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  17 

animals  higher  in  the  world  than  itself ;  and  lastly,  it 
grows  and  increases,  for  when  it  is  too  large  to  be 
comfortable  it  splits  in  two,  and  each  half  goes  its 
way  as  a  living  animal. 

Let  us  see  how  one  behaved  which  Professor 
Haeckel  took  out  of  the  sea  and  kept  in  a  watch- 
glass  under  a  microscope.  When  he  first  looked  at 
it  he  found  that  it  was  drawn  up  in  a  lump  with  a 
minute  animal  and  a  plant-cell  in  the  middle  of  its 
slime,  and  close  by  it  in  the  water  lay  a  small  living 
animal  called  a  Ceratium  (c,  Fig.  i),  which  has  a 
hard  case  or  shell.  After  a  while,  as  he  watched, 
he  saw  the  thread-slime  put  out  its  fine  threads  on 
all  sides  (a,  Fig.  i).  Soon  the  threads  on  the  right 
side  touched  the  shell  of  the  Ceratium.  Here  was 
food,  and  the  body  of  the  Thread-slime  evidently 
became  aware  of  it  at  once,  for  all  the  little  grains  in 
the  slime  began  to  course  to  and  fro,  and  the  threads 
touching  the  Ceratium  lengthened  out  and  stretched 
more  and  more  over  it,  while  all  those  on  the  other 
side  which  had  not  found  any  food  were  drawn  in, 
(b,  Fig.  i).  Six  hours  later  when  Dr.  Haeckel  looked 
again,  to  his  astonishment  the  thread -slime  had 
disappeared,  but  on  examining  more  closely  he 
discovered  it  completely  spread  in  patches  over  the 
shell  of  the  Ceratium.  It  had  drawn  its  whole  body 
after  the  pioneering  threads  and  wrapped  itself  round 
its  prey.  Next  morning  when  he  looked  again,  lo ! 
it  was  back  in  its  original  place,  and  by  its  side  lay 
the  Ceratium  shell  quite  empty,  together  with  the 
skeletons  of  the  other  two  forms  which  had  been 
inside  the  Thread-slime ! 

This  little  drop  of  slime  without  eyes  or  ears  or 


i8  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

parts  of  any  kind,  knew  how  to  find  its  food  ;  without 
muscles  or  limbs  it  was  able  to  creep  over  it ;  without 
a  mouth  it  could  suck  out  its  living  body ;  without  a 
stomach  it  could  digest  the  food  in  the  midst  of  its 
own  slime,  and  throw  out  the  hard  parts  which  it 
did  not  want. 

This   is    the    history   of    one   of   Life's    simplest 
children. 

Here  is  another  (Fig.  2),  which  lives  not  only  in  the 
sea  but  also  in  pools  and  puddles,  and  in  the  gutters 
of  our  streets  and  of 
our  house-tops.  Any- 
where that  water  lies 
stagnant  these  little 
drops  of  slime  will  grow 
up  and  make  it  their 
home.  Sometimes  few 
and  far  between,  some- 
times in  crowds,  so  that 

The  Finger  SVaoR*—Haeekd.          the    whole   pond    would 
a,  At  rest,     b,  Feeding  on  minute      seem    aljve  jf  we   CQU}d 

slime-plants.  ,  ,          .. 

see  them,  they  live,  and 

multiply,  and  die  under  our  very  feet.  Can  any- 
thing be  less  like  an  animal  than  this  shapeless 
mass  (a,  Fig.  2)  ?  Yet  under  a  strong  microscope  it 
may  be  seen  moving  lazily  along  by  putting  out  a 
thick  slimy  finger  and  then  letting  all  the  rest  of  its 
body  flow  after  it.  When  it  touches  food  it  flows 
over  it  just  as  the  Thread-slime  did,  and  dissolving 
the  soft  parts  sends  out  the  hard  refuse  anywhere,  it 
does  not  matter  where,  for  it  has  no  skin  over  its 
body,  being  merely  one  general  mass  of  slime. 

*  Protamoeba. 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  19 

And  now,  before  we  go  on  to  other  forms,  let  me 
ask  you  to  pause  and  think  what  these  little  slime- 
specks  tell  us  about  the  wonderful  powers  of  Life. 
Can  you  guess  at  all  how  these  creatures  do  their 
work  ?  We  are  obliged  to  have  eyes  to  see  our  food, 
nerves  and  muscles  to  enable  us  to  feel  and  grasp  it, 
mouths  to  eat  it,  stomachs  which  secrete  a  juice  in 
order  to  dissolve  it,  and  a  special  pump,  the  heart,  to 
drive  it  into  the  different  parts  of  our  body.  But  in 
these  tiny  slime-animals  life  has  nothing  better  to 
work  with  than  a  mere  drop  of  living  matter,  which 
is  all  alike  throughout,  so  that  if  you  broke  it  into 
twenty  pieces  every  piece  would  be  as  much  a  living 
being  as  the  whole  drop.  And  yet  by  means  of  the 
wonderful  gift  of  life,  this  slime -drop  lives,  and 
breathes,  and  eats,  and  increases,  shrinks  away  if  you 
touch  it,  feels  for  its  food,  and  moves  from  place  to 
place,  changing  its  shape  to  form  limbs  and  feeling- 
threads,  which  are  lost  again  as  soon  as  it  no  longer 
needs  them. 

Nor  have  we  yet  learnt  one-half  of  the  marvels 
which  can  be  wrought  in  living  specks  of  slime.  For, 
on  further  inquiry,  we  find  these  simple  forms  de- 
veloping two  quite  different  modes  of  life.  In  the 
one  case  the  slime  is  moulded  itself  into  delicate 
forms,  making  creatures  with  mouths,  with  suckers, 
and  with  delicate  lashes  to  drive  the  body  through 
the  water  ;  while  in  the  other  case,  remaining  a  simple 
drop  with  delicate  threads,  it  has  learned  to  build  a 
solid  covering  of  the  most  exquisite  delicacy. 

To  the  first  class  belongs  our  little  Noctiluca,  and 
the  forms  drawn  by  its  side  in  Fig.  3.  To  the  second 
belong  the  microscopic  shells  (Fig.  4)  which  form  our 


20  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

chalk.  Look  at  the  little  wriggling  creatures  at  I, 
Fig.  3,  small  as  they  look  here,  they  are  drawn  many 
thousand  times  larger  than  they  really  are  in  life, 
and  yet  they  are  much  more  perfectly  formed  than 
either  the  thread -slime  or  the  finger-slime.  They 
have  actually  a  kind  of  skin,  and  do  not  throw  out 
threads  here  and  there,  but  are  provided  with  a  little 

Fig.  3. 


Infusoria,  all  immensely  magnified. 
I,  A  group  of  monads.*     2,  The  Night-glow,  t     3,  Bell-flower.J 

whip  of  slime,  which  they  lash  to  and  fro,  and  so  drive 
themselves  through  the  water.  These  microscopic 
forms  called  monads  grow  up  in  water  in  which  flowers 
have  stood  for  many  days  till  their  stalks  begin  to  de- 
cay, and  in  infusions  of  hay  or  straw,  made  by  pouring 
hot  water  upon  them  and  letting  it  stand  ;  and  for 
this  reason  the  little  beings  are  called  infusoria.  In 
*  Monas.  f  Noctiluca.  i  Vcrticella. 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  21 

such  impure  water,  under  a  powerful  microscope  you 
may  see  them  darting  along  by  thousands.  But  the 
whip  does  not  only  serve  them  as  an  oar,  it  also  sends 
the  food  they  meet  with  into  a  tiny  opening,  one  of 
life's  first  attempts  at  a  mouth.  With  a  little  jerk, 
when  the  creature  is  still  or  fixed  to  the  bottom,  the 
whip  drives  still  smaller  beings  than  the  monad  itself 
into  its  wide-opened  cavity,  and  there  they  are  digested 
in  a  little  watery  bubble,  which  may  be  clearly  seen 
in  its  body.  The  Noctiluca  or  night-glow  (2,  Fig.  3) 
's  much  larger,  being  often  as  large  as  the  head  of 
a  small  pin,  and  just  below  the  outer  rim  of  its  slimy 
bag  the  sparks  of  light  are  given  out.  It  has  been 
reckoned  that  there  are  as  many  as  30,000  Noc- 
tilucae  in  one  cubic  inch  of  phosphorescent  water, 
and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  grasp  the  idea  of  the 
millions  upon  millions  of  these  tiny  forms  which 
must  be  floating  over  a  sea  which  is  giving  out  a 
glow  of  liquid  fire  for  miles  and  miles.  And  it  is  only 
because  of  this  light  that  we  realise  that  they  are  there. 
There  are  just  as  many  other  forms  in  the  water  on 
every  side  of  us,  while  we  dream  nothing  of  this 
teeming  life  in  the  midst  of  which  we  live. 

We  cannot  stop  here  to  speak  of  the  tube-sucker  * 
and  all  his  relations,  which  have  a  mouth  at  the  end 
of  every  tube  ;  nor  of  the  beautiful  little  bell-flower  ft 
which  may  be  seen  in  any  pond  or  in  sea-water,  with 
its  hanging  bells  whirling  the  food  in  by  their  little 
fringe  of  hairs  (a,  Fig.  3)  ;  or  shutting  up  with  the 
food  inside,  and  starting  back  by  curling  up  their 
slender  stem  (b)  ;  or  splitting  in  two  (c)  and  sending 
off  buds  (d,  d],  which  swim  away  to  form  new  colonies 

*  Acineta.  1"   Vorticella  nebullifera. 


22  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

elsewhere.  All  these  wondrous  little  beings  are  some 
of  life's  simplest  children,  and  one  and  all  are  made 
of  nothing  but  slime,  while  yet  they  live,  and  move, 
and  seek  their  daily  food. 

But  all  these  are  naked  and  homeless,  and  to  a 
great  extent  unprotected.  Gulped  down  in  thou- 
sands and  millions  by  each  other,  and  by  other 
animals,  they  are  defenceless  and  weak  against 
attacks.  It  would  certainly  be  better  for  them 
if  they  could  have  solid  shells  to  cover  their  soft 
bodies,  and  to  protect  them  in  many  dangers.  And 
so  we  find  that  even  in  this  lowest  stage  of  life 
necessity  is  the  "  mother  of  invention  ;"  and  drops  of 
slime,  no  higher  than  the  thread-slime  (Fig.  i),  have 
learned  to  build  shells  around  their  delicate  bodies. 

These  shell-builders  live  chiefly  in  the  sea,  and 
there  you  may  find  them  if  you  search  carefully  by 
the  help  of  a  strong  magnifying  glass  in  the  ooze  of 
oyster-beds,  or  under  the  leaves  of  the  delicate  green 
seaweed,  or  in  the  muddy  sand  of  the  sea-shore. 
The  most  common  forms  will  be  those  shown  at  a,  e, 
/,  and  g  in  Fig.  4  ;  and,  though  they  are  so  very 
small,  you  may  if  you  are  fortunate  see  them  clinging 
by  their  fine  slime-threads  to  the  weeds  or  the  mud. 

These  animals  are,  as  I  have  said,  simple  slime- 
drops  like  the  thread-slime,  but  they  add  to  the  list  of 
wonderful  things  that  such  slime  can  do,  for  they  take 
out  of  the  sea-water,  particle  by  particle,  the  lime 
which  is  dissolved  in  it,  and  build  around  their  soft 
bodies  the  solid  shell  or  skeleton  in  which  they  live. 
Nor  is  this  all ;  even  if  they  all  built  the  same  simple 
shell,  it  would  be  very  puzzling  to  imagine  how  they 
do  it,  bul  they  do  much  more.  They  build  shells  in 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  23 

many  different  shapes,  often  with  the  most  beautiful 
and  complicated  patterns  upon  them.  All  but  the 
simplest  shells  have  several  chambers  in  them,  a  new 
one  being  added  as  soon  as  the  animal  outgrows  the 
last  one  ;  and  in  the  partition  between  each  chamber 

Fig.  4. 


a,  Miliolite,  with  a  shell  of  lime,  cf,  The  same,  with  a  shell  of 
Band,  b,  Peneropolis.  c,  Orbitolite.  In  these  shells  the  animals 
feed  only  from  the  edge  of  the  shell. 

d,  Globigerina.  e,  Lagena.  f,  Nodosarina.  g,  Rotalia.  A, 
Textularia.  These  shells  are  full  of  holes,  out  of  which  the  animal 
puts  threads  to  feed. 

there  is  a  minute  hole  through  which  a  thin  thread  of 
slime  passes  into  the  next  chamber,  so  that  the  whole 
body  is  joined  together  throughout  the  shell.  On 
account  of  these  holes  these  lime-builders  have  been 
called  Foraminifera  from  foramen  a  hole,  fero  I  bear.* 

*  This  name  is  now  often  defined  as  meaning  that  the  outside  of 
the  shell  is  perforated  with  holes,  but  the  earlier  use  of  the  word  as 
given  here  is  more  correct,  because  it  applies  equally  to  the  perforated 
and  non-perforated  Foraminifera. 


24  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

Let  us  now  take  one  of  these  shells  (a,  Fig.  4),  and 
see  how  it  was  built  up.     The  grown  animal  as  he 
looks  when  the  shell  is  taken  off  him  is  shown  in 
Fig.  5.      In  the  beginning,  when  he  is  quite  young,  he 
F-     -  is  merely  a  round  drop  ( i,  Fig.  5)  with 

a  delicate  transparent  shell  and  an 
opening,  out  of  which  he  puts  his 
threads  of  slime.  Then  as  he  out- 
grows this  first  chamber  he  draws 
his  slime  threads  together  and  forms 
a  bud  (2)  outside  the  shell,  and 
round  this  bud  he  builds  a  second 

The  jelly  body  of     .         .  r     .  .       -       .  .   . 

the  Miliolite,  a,  Fig.  4,  chamber  out  of  the  end  of  which 
showing  the  buds  of  he  again  puts  his  threads.  Then  he 
±3  'U'i'ch3'  Sci  f°™s  the  next  bud  (3),  and  goes 
chamber  is  built. —  on  thus  till  he  has  built  a  com- 
Carpenter.  pjete  ^ell,  generally  of  seven  cham- 

bers ;  and  as  each  new  compartment  is  so  placed 
as  to  overlap  the  one  before  it,  the  whole  when 
finished  has  the  curious  form  a,  Fig.  4,  altogether 
not  larger  than  a  millet -seed,  from  which  it  takes 
the  name  of  Miliola.  These  miliolite  shells  may 
be  found  by  the  help  of  the  microscope  in  the 
damp  sand  of  almost  any  sea-shore,  and  while  some 
of  the  shells  will  be  empty,  others  will  still  be  filled 
with  the  dark-yellow  animal  slime. 

Think  of  the  constant  manufacture  of  such  delicate 
shells  as  these  going  on  all  over  the  world,  and  the 
makers  but  a  drop  of  slime !  And  lest  you  should 
be  inclined  to  think  little  of  it  as  a  mere  mechanical 
process,  the  miliolite  himself  tells  us  another  story,  for 
from  time  to  time  we  find  miliolites  with  shells  made, 
— not  of  lime, — but  of  grains  of  sand  and  tiny  broken 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  25 

pieces  of  shell  (a',  Fig.  4),  which  the  little  architect 
has  used  to  build  the  walls  of  his  house,  when  for 
some  reason  the  ordinary  material  was  deficient  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  power  of  this  living  drop  to 
choose  its  own  materials  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
facts  in  the  history  of  life's  simplest  children. 

These  miliolites  and  other  Foraminifera  when 
found  clinging  to  sea-weed  are  easily  placed  in  a  salt- 
water aquarium,  and  they  will  then  thrust  their 
threads  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  shell  and  crawl  on 
the  sides  of  the  glass.  Professor  Schultze  even  saw 
a  number  of  young  miliolites  born  in  an  aquarium, 
and  this  was  how  it  happened.  He  noticed  one  day 
that  several  of  his  miliolites  had  covered  the  outside 
of  their  shells  with  their  brown  slimy  body,  and  a 
few  days  later  he  could  see  through  the  microscope 
a  number  of  dark-looking  specks  gradually  loosening 
themselves  from  this  slime. 

There  were  as  many  as  forty  of  these  specks  on 
one  shell,  and  after  a  time  he  could  distinguish  that 
every  speck  was  a  tiny  miliolite,  having  only  one 
chamber  (i,  Fig.  5)  to  begin  life  in,  the  shell  of 
which  was  so  pale  and  transparent  that  he  could 
see  the  slime  within  it.  As  soon  as  each  one 
shook  himself  free  from  the  rest  of  the  slime,  he 
put  out  his  threads  and  crawled  away  on  the  glass 
to  get  his  own  living ;  and  now  when  Professor 
Schultze  examined  the  shell  of  the  parent  miliolite, 
he  found  it  almost  empty.  The  mother  had  broken 
herself  up  into  her  little  children  ! 

A  miliolite  builds  generally  only  six  or  seven 
chambers,  but  other  forms,  such  as  c,  Figure  4,  build 
hundreds  of  separate  apartments.  This  particular 


26  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

form  c,  which  is  called  an  Orbitolite,  has  often  as 
many  as  fifteen  rings,  each  with  its  numerous 
chambers,  even  when  the  whole  shell  is  only  as 
large  as  the  head  of  a  small  pin  ;  and  in  ages  long 
gone  by,  the  larger  Orbitolites  had  a  far  greater  num- 
ber of  rings  and  thousands  of  chambers  in  one  single 
shell.  The  animal  builds  these  in  the  same  way  as  we 
have  seen  the  Miliolite  do  it,  only  after  he  has  made 
one  round  of  chambers  with  a  hole  in  each,  he  puts 
out  slime-threads  at  every  hole  and  joins  them  into  a 
ring  with  swellings  in  it,  like  beads  upon  a  string,  and 
round  these  he  builds  the  next  row  of  chambers.  So 
he  goes  on  increasing  his  home  till  he  reaches  his  full 
size,  and  then  Professor  Parker  tells  us  that  the  slime 
of  the  outer  row  often  breaks  up  into  myriads  of  young 
Orbitolites  just  as  the  body  of  the  Miliolite  did.  At 
the  same  time  these  forms  can  also  multiply  by  merely 
breaking  in  half  as  the  naked  Finger-slime  does,  and  if 
by  accident  a  piece  of  an  Orbitolite  is  broken  off  it 
can  form  a  new  and  complete  shell  of  its  own. 

If  you  have  now  understood  how  the  Orbitolite 
grows,  you  will  see  that  the  only  communication  it 
has  with  the  outer  world  is  through  the  minute  threads 
which  stretch  out  of  the  holes  of  the  chambers  in  the 
last  ring  (see  c,  Fig.  4),  and  that  the  slime  in  all  the 
middle  chambers  can  get  food  in  no  other  way  than 
by  its  passing  from  the  outside  right  through  all  the 
other  rings.  This  is  a  tedious  way  of  getting  food, 
and  we  shall  find  that  some  of  the  forms  shown  in 
Fig.  4  have  escaped  from  it  in  a  most  ingenious  way. 
These  forms  (d  to  h,  Fig.  4)  have  hit  upon  the  plan  of 
keeping  their  thin  threads  stretched  out  like  the  thread- 
slime  (a,  Fig.  i)  all  the  time  they  are  laying  down  their 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  27 

lime-house.  The  consequence  of  this  is  that  wherever 
a  thread  has  been,  there  a  minute  hole  like  a  pin-prick 
is  left  in  the  shell,  and  while  the  animal  can  draw 
itself  quite  in  out  of  danger,  it  can  also  come  out  all 
over  the  shell  and  take  in  food.  Here,  then,  we  have 
another  stratagem  taught  by  life  to  these  her  infant 
children.  The  slime  which  builds  the  Globigerina  (a] 
or  the  Rotalia  (g]  is  exactly  the  same  as  far  as  we 
can  see  as  the  slime  which  builds  the  Miliolite,  and 
yet  those  drops  of  slime  have  learnt  a  new  lesson, 
and  each  one  as  it  is  born  stretches  out  its  fine  threads 
before  constructing  its  shell,  thus  providing  a  thou- 
sand openings  for  the  entrance  of  its  food  in  a  house 
not  bigger  than  a  grain  of  sand  ! 

And  now  it  only  remains  for  us  to  ask  how  long 
these  wondrous  lime-builders  have  been  upon  the 
earth.  We  ask,  and  ask  in  vain,  for  we  have  no 
means  of  counting  the  vast  ages  during  which  they 
have  lived  and  built.  One  of  the  largest  and  most 
complicated  forms  called  the  Numnm/ife  (from  nummus 
a  coin,  which  it  resembles),  lived 
and  died  in  such  millions  before  Fig.  6. 

the  Alps  or  the  Carpathians  had  any 
existence,  that  whole  beds  of  lime- 
stone thousands  of  feet  thick  and 
stretching  over  hundreds  of  miles 
are  made  entirely  of  its  shells ; 
while  the  little  Globigerina  (d,  Fig. 
4)  and  its  friends  were  living  and  A  Nummulitewith 
multiplying  in  still  more  dim  and  open.^^owLg^Ae 
distant  periods  till  their  shells  accu-  chambers.  Life  size, 
mulated  into  vast  beds  of  chalk. 

When  the  ancient  Egyptians  raised  the  pyramids 


28  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

of  Egypt,  they  little  dreamed  that  every  inch  of  the 
stone  they  used  was  made  of  the  shelly  palaces  of 
the  Nummulite,  constructed  by  little  drops  of  slime 
with  a  skill  and  ingenuity  far  surpassing  their  own. 
As  little  do  most  Parisians  think  now  that  the  lime- 
stone of  which  their  houses  are  built  is  almost  entirely 
made  up  of  Orbitolite  shells.  And  still  less  does  the 
country  boy  as  he  strolls  over  the  chalk  downs  of 
Sussex  or  Hampshire  suspect  that  the  chalk  under 
his  feet  is  largely  composed  of  shells  of  the  Globi- 
gerina  and  the  other  minute  forms  shown  in  Figure 
4  ;  yet  so  it  is.  These  minute  slime-builders  have 
been  patiently  living  and  building  for  untold  ages, 
and  are  doing  so  still,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic, 
where  the  Globigerina  lives  in  such  great  numbers 
that  the  falling  of  the  shells  through  the  water  down 
to  the  bottom  must  be  like  a  constant  shower  of 
snow,  as  is  proved  by  the  freshness  of  those  brought 
up  in  the  dredge. 

When  a  little  of  the  chalky  mud  was  taken  up  from 
the  bottom  at  the  time  when  the  Atlantic  telegraph 
was  laid  down,  it  was  found  to  be  almost  entirely  com- 
posed of  Globigerina  shells,  and  this  led  naturalists, 
who  had  long  known  that  chalk  was  formed  of  shelly 
matter,  to  rub  down  some  ordinary  chalk  and  examine 
it  under  the  microscope,  and  there  again  was  our  little 
Globigerina,  often  crushed  and  worn,  but  still  plainly 
recognisable.  So  that,  astounding  as  it  may  seem, 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  vast  beds  of  chalk 
stretching  from  Ireland  to  the  Crimea,  from  Sweden 
to  Bordeaux,  are  in  great  part  formed  of  the  dead 
shells  of  these  little  drops  of  slime. 

We  have  paused  so  long  over  the  lime-builders 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN. 


Fig.  7. 


that  we  can  only  glance  at  those  minute  specks  of 
slime  which  build  their  skeletons  of  flint  instead  of  lime. 
These  animals  are 
a  little  higher  in 
the  world  than  the 
lime  -  builders,  for 
their  body  has  with- 
in it  a  small  bag  or 
capsule,  buried  in 
the  middle  of  the 
slime  (see-  Fig.  7), 
and  in  this  bag 
the  solid  grains  lie 
very  thickly,  and 
have  sometimes 
small  crystals  a- 
mong  them,  while 
in  the  slime  round 
it  there  are  often 
little  oil -globules  floating.  If  you  dip  a  glass 
into  the  quiet  bays  of  Nice  or  Messina  you  may  be 
fortunate  enough  to  bring  up  one  or  more  of  these 
little  sun-slimes,  but  they  are  so  tiny  and  transparent 
that  even  when  the  light  falls  upon  them  you  will 
only  distinguish  them  as  bright  specks  in  the  water. 
Their  threads  stick  out  stiff  and  straight,  and  for  this 
reason  they  are  all  classed  under  the  name  Radiolaria, 
or  ray-like  animals. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  Fig.  8,  and  study  the 
solid  skeletons  which  these  Radiolaria  build  with  the 
flint  (or  silex)  which  they  find  in  minute  quantities  in 
the  water.  We  saw  that  the  lime-builders  construct 

*  Physematium. 


The  Sun-Slime.* — Haeckel. 

Immensely  magnified,  its  real  size  being  not 

larger  than  a  mustard  seed. 


30  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

shells  into  ivhich  they  can  draw  back  entirely  if  they 
are  attacked,  but  the  flint-builders  seem  very  careless 
in  this  respect,  for  they  have  large  holes  all  over  their 
flinty  skeletons.  But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  notice 

Fig.  8. 


Flint  Shells  built  by  slime  animals.* 

Immensely  magnified :  the  real  sizes  are  from  a  mere  speck  to  that  of 
one  of  these  letters. 

how  they  send  out  sharp  spikes,  which  must  be  un- 
comfortable for  any  animal  trying  to  snap  at  them, 
although  as  we  have  seen  (p.  16)  the  soft  thread- 

*  Radiolarise  or  Polycistinae.     a,  Petalospyris  ;   b,  Ethmosphaera  ; 
c,  Diploconus  ;  d,  Dictyopodium ;  e,  Heliosphaera  ;  /,  Actinomma. 


LIFE'S  SIMPLEST  CHILDREN.  31 

slime  manages  to  suck  their  bodies  out  of  the  shells. 
Still  these  hard  spiky  outside  skeletons  must  be  a 
great  protection  to  them,  and  we  find  every  kind  of 
shape  devised  by  these  wonderful  architects  in  the 
construction  of  their  tiny  houses,  though  these  are  so 
small  as  to  look  like  a  grain  of  sand  when  seen  by 
the  naked  eye.  Perhaps  the  most  wonderful  of  all  is 
the  one  shown  at/,  Fig.  8.  It  is  broken  open  to  show 
the  three  balls  one  within  another,  each  kept  in  its 
place  by  rods  of  flint  passing  through  the  whole. 
This  beautiful  little  shell  looks  just  like  the  carved 
balls  of  the  Chinese,  yet,  instead  of  being  the  work  of 
intelligent  man,  it  is  built  by  a  mere  mass  of  slime. 

We  have  now  learned  to  know  the  simplest  of  all 
animals  ;  how  they  live,  and  move,  and  the  homes 
they  build.  All  the  forms  are  not  quite  equally 
simple,  for  some  of  the  higher  ones  have  a  solid 
spot  or  nucleus  in  the  middle  of  the  slime,  and  some- 
times a  small  wateiy  bubble,  as  in  the  Monad  or  the 
Bell-flower,  which  contracts  and  expands  at  intervals  : 
and  in  these  forms  the  outside  of  the  slime  is  rather 
thicker  than  the  inside,  so  that  we  might  say  that 
they  are  on  the  road  to  having  a  skin,  while  the 
shell-builders  have  a  uniform  slimy  body.  But  both 
classes  alike  belong  to  that  first  and  lowest  branch 
of  the  children  of  life,  called  by  scientific  men  the 
Protozoa  (protos  first,  zoon  animal)  or  first  animals. 
The  still  water  everywhere  is  swarming  with  them, 
though  we  may  see  and  know  nothing  of  them.  Yet 
we  owe  them  something  ;  for  not  only  do  the  dead 
shells  of  many  of  them  form  our  solid  ground,  but 
those  now  living  purify  our  waters  by  feeding  upon 
the  living  and  dead  matter  in  them.  These  tiny 


32  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

slime  animals  are  the  invisible  scavengers  of  the  ocean 
and  the  pools,  and  in  earning  their  own  living  they 
also  work  for  others.  When  you  look  upon  a  still 
pond  in  some  quiet  country  lane,  the  insects  you  see 
swimming  about  in  it,  and  the  plants  which  cover  it, 
are  not  the  only  inhabitants,  but  on  its  surface  and  in 
its  silent  depths  minute  specks  of  slime  are  living  and 
working  though  no  eye  can  see  them.  Beautiful  and 
wonderful,  however,  as  these  forms  are,  they  are  yet 
very  low  in  the  scale  of  life ;  they  live  and  increase 
in  multitudes,  but  in  multitudes  also  they  die  and  are 
devoured.  Delicate,  and  frail,  and  helpless,  they  are, 
as  it  were,  but  first  attempts  at  the  results  which 
life  can  accomplish.  Let  us  pass  on  and  see  the 
next  step  towards  higher  and,  in  many  ways,  more 
ambitious  creatures. 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE. 


33 


CHAPTER  III. 


HOW    SPONGES    LIVE. 


And  here  were  coral  bowers, 

And  grots  of  madrepores, 

And  banks  of  sponge,  as  soft  and  fair  to  eye 

As  e'er  was  mossy  bed, 

Whereon  the  wood-nymphs  lie, 

With  languid  limbs  in  summer's  sultry  hours. 

SOUTHEY. 


HERE   are    certainly  very   few 
'people,   from   the   little    child    in 
the    nursery    to   the    artist    in '  his 
studio,  or  from  the  lady  in  her  bed- 
room to  the  groom  in  the  stables, 
who  do  not  handle  a  sponge  almost 
every  day  of  their  lives ;  and  yet,  pro- 
bably, not  one  in  a  hundred  of  these 
people  has  ever  really  looked  at 
the  sponge  he  or  she  is  using,  or 
considered  what  a  curious  and  beau- 
tiful thing  it  is. 

Yet  there  are  at  least  two  things 
in  even  the  commonest  sponges 
which  ought  at  once  to  attract  attention.  If  you 
take  a  piece  of  ordinary  honey-comb  sponge  in 
your  hand  and  look  at  it,  you  cannot  help  being 
struck  by  the  large  holes,  few  and  far  between,  upon 


34  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

its  surface,  and  the  numberless  small  holes  scattered 
about  between  them  ;  and  on  looking  carefully  down 
one  of  the  large  holes,  you  will  see  that  it  leads  to  a 
long  tube,  into  which  a  number  of  small  tubes  open ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  try  to  follow  out  any 
of  the  smaller  holes  in  the  same  way,  you  will  find 
that  they  soon  come  to  an  end,  and  branch  out  side- 
ways into  each  other,  so  as  to  form  an  irregular  net- 
work of  short  tubes.  Lastly,  if  you  cut  the  sponge  open 
and  follow  out  this  network,  you  will  discover  that 
it  always  ends  by  leading,  sooner  or  later,  into  one 
of  the  large  tubes.  What  is  the  reason  of  this  com- 
plicated arrangement  of  holes,  all  opening  into  each 
other,  and  by  whom  has  it  been  planned  and  carried 
out? 

Again,  an   examination   of  the   material    of  the 
sponge  will  show  that  it  is  not  a  mere  structureless 
mass,  but  is  made  up  of  delicate  silk-fibres,  woven 
Fig.  9.  together  into  a  kind  of  fine  fluffy 

gauze.  By  putting  a  thin  slice  of 
the  sponge  under  a  microscope, 
it  is  possible  to  distinguish  this 
gossamer  tissue  very  clearly,  and 
to  see  that  it  is  quite  loosely 
woven  ;  and  that  it  is  only  because 
the  texture  is  so  fine,  and  the 

A  thin  fragment  of  a    layerS     fit     SO     cl°Sely    °ne     ab°VC 

bath-sponge  seen  under  the  other,  that,  when  looked  at 
the  microscope.  from  aDOve,  it  appears  a  solid  sub- 

stance. There  is  scarcely  a  more  curious  object  under 
the  microscope  than  a  thin  slice  of  fine  sponge,  though 
it  is  almost  impossible  in  a  picture  to  show  its  curious 
nest-like  appearance.  How  has  this  web  been  woven  so 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE.  35 

delicately  ?  What  architect  has  laid  the  fibres  so 
skilfully,  and  formed  such  a  wonderful  and  intricate 
structure  ? 

The  architect  is  one  of  Life's  children,  whose  his- 
tory we  must  next  consider  ;  for  though  the  sponge 
was  long  thought  to  be  a  plant,  we  now  know  that 
it  is  the  skeleton  or  framework  of  a  slime -animal, 
a  little  higher  than  those  spoken  of  in  the  last 
chapter.  When  the  sponge  which  you  hold  in  your 
hand  was  alive,  growing  on  the  rocks  in  the  warm 
deep  waters  of  the  Grecian  Archipelago  or  the 
Red  Sea,  it  did  not  consist  merely  of  the  soft  fibre 
you  now  see,  but  was  covered  all  over  the  outside 
and  lined  throughout,  even  along  the  smallest  of  its 
tubes,  with  a  film  of  slime.  This  slime,  though  it 
appears  to  be  all  one  mass  with  specks  of  solid  matter 
here  and  there,  is  really  made  up  of  Amoebae  or  finger- 
slime  beings  (see  Fig.  2),  and  if  any  little  piece  is  torn 
off  it  floats  in  the  water  and  puts  out  fingers,  exactly 
as  the  Amoeba  does.  Nevertheless,  in  the  sponge 
all  these  separate  cells  are  not  independent  creatures, 
but  form  the  flesh  of  one  single  sponge -animal, 
which  lives,  breathes,  feeds,  grows,  and  gives  forth 
young  ones  in  its  ocean  home. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  warm  seas  on  the  Mediter- 
ranean coast  or  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  these  sponge- 
animals  live  in  wild  profusion,  sometimes  hiding  in 
submarine  caverns,  sometimes  standing  boldly  on  the 
top  of  a  slab  of  rock,  or  often  hanging  under  ledges. 
Some  are  round  like  cups,  some  branched  like  trees, 
some  thin  and  spread  out  like  a  fan  ;  while  there  is 
scarcely  a  colour  from  a  brilliant  orange  to  a  dull 
dingy  brown,  which  is  not  to  be  seen  among  them. 


36  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

The  floor  on  which  they  grow  is  often  as  beautiful 
as  they  are  themselves,  with  its  covering  of  tangled 
seaweeds,  among  which  live  the  many  shelled 
creatures  of  the  sea,  while  fish  swim  hither  and 
thither,  and  the  whole  region  is  teeming  with  life — 

"  Of  sea-born  kinds,  ten  thousand  thousand  tribes, 
Find  endless  range  for  pasture  and  for  sport." 

Such  is  the  Sponge-kingdom,  and  the  whole  colony 
of  sponges  of  every  shape  and  size  flourish  like 
monarchs  in  their  domain.  So  long  as  they  are 
alive  few  can  attack  them  and  fewer  conquer  or 
destroy  them.  Only  the  sponge-fisher  diving  down 
into  the  rich  colony  disturbs  its  peace,  and  tearing 
the  living  sponge  ruthlessly  from  its  rocky  bed, 
wrings  out  the  living  slime,  and  destroys  the  animal 
for  the  sake  of  its  skeleton. 

Every  three  years  this  destroyer  visits  the 
sponge-colony,  for  he  knows  that  in  spite  of  his  having 
carried  off  all  the  best  and  richest  specimens,  this 
interval  is  enough  for  new  sponge-animals  to  have 
grown  up  so  as  to  weave  large  and  perfect  skeletons. 

What  secret  then  has  Life  taught  to  the  sponge- 
animal,  that  while  it  is  still  only  slime  it  can  grow 
into  such  large  masses  and  protect  itself  so  well  against 
the  other  inhabitants  of  the  sea  ?  We  will  answer 
this  question  by  tracing  the  growth  of  a  sponge  from 
its  birth,  and  reading  its  history. 

If  you  wish  to  watch  a  living  sponge  yourself, 
you  have  only  to  keep  one  in  a  salt-water  aquarium, 
for  small  sponges  are  easily  found  alive  on  our 
English  coast,  though  they  will  not  look  like  those 
we  use.  In  this  description,  however,  we  will  ima- 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE. 


37 


Fig.  10. 


gine  that  we  can  visit   one  of  the  sponge -colonies 

in    the    Mediterranean    Sea 

or    the    Gulf    of    Mexico, 

where  the  rocks  from  fifty 

to  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 

below   the    surface    of   the 

clear  blue  water  are  covered 

with  sponges  of  every  size, 

and  shape,  and  texture. 

If  we  could  visit  these 
sponge  -  beds  during  the 
summer  or  autumn  months, 
and  examine  carefully  the 
slimy  lining  of  one  of  the 
big  tubes  of  a  living 
sponge,  we  should  find  that 
minute  bags  of  slime 
(i,  a,  Fig.  1 1)  are  begin- 
ning to  appear  in  it,  either 
scattered  through  the 
sponge  or  collected  in  heaps. 
These  are  sponge-eggs,  out 
of  which  young  sponges 
are  to  grow,  and  in  many 
ways  they  are  very  like  a  hen's  egg.  Within, 
as  may  be  seen  through  their  transparent  cover- 
ing, is  something  which  answers  to  the  yelk  of 
an  egg,  with  a  solid  spot  or  nucleus  in  it.  This 
yelk  begins  soon  to  divide  into  two  cells,  or  separate 
masses  of  slime,  and  these  again  divide  into  four, 
these  four  into  eight,  and  so  on  till  the  egg  is  a 
globe  of  small  round  cells,  the  beginning  of  the 
young  sponge.  And  now  a  change  may  be  seen  to 


A  British  sponge  found  at 
Brighton — life-size. 


38  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

take  place  in  those  cells  which  lie  all  round  the 
outside  of  the  rest ;  each  one  of  them  puts  forth  a 
minute  whip-like  lash  called  a  cilium  (from  cilium, 
an  eyelash),  so  as  to  form  a  fringe  round  the  whole 
body,  and  then  the  young  sponge,  being  ready  to 
make  its  own  way  in  the  world,  bursts  through  the 
skin  of  the  bag,  and  wav- 
ing its  lashes,  swims  out 
an  oval -shaped  body  (2, 
Fig.  1 1)  into  the  sea. 

Here,  you  will  notice, 
we    have     a    body,    not 
,  made  as  in  the  simplest 

The  birth  of  the  Sponge. — Adapted  . 

from  Carter.  slime-animals  of  a  mere 

1,  Sponge-egg,  a,  The  yelk  within    piece    of   slime,  but  COm- 

the  envelope,  b.  posed    of   a    number    of 

2,  Young  sponge  swimming,     c,         n      ,.  , 

Nipple  projecting,  where  a  large  cells,  the  inner  ones  round 

hole  will,  afterwards  form,  d,  Root-  and  without  lashes,  like  a 
cells  by  which  the  young  sponge  p.rouo  of  Amcpha  while 
afterwards  fixes  itself  to  the  rock.  SrouP  *  **  WCCDd,  wni 

the  outer  ones,  each  with 

his  little  whip,  are  like  a  colony  of  monads  (see  Fig.  3), 
surrounding  the  animal. 

By  means  of  these  it  swims  along  and  feeds  ;  and 
as  it  grows,  a  small  nipple,  c,  afterwards  to  become  a 
hole,  appears  at  the  tip,  while  a  group  of  larger  cells  (d} 
collect  at  the  hinder  end.  By  means  of  these  cells 
the  little  animal  attaches  itself  to  the  spot  where  it  is 
to  spend  the  rest  of  its  life,  sometimes  to  a  pebble,  but 
generally  to  the  solid  rock.  Small  sponges  often  fix 
themselves  to  living  shells,  and  Dr.  Johnstone  tells  us 
that  he  met  with  a  sponge  on  the  back  of  a  crab, 
which  walked  about  quite  unconcerned  with  its  light 
burden,  though  it  was  many  times  larger  than  itself. 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE.  39 

Having  settled,  the  young  sponge  now  spreads 
itself  out  upon  the  rock,  and  grows  and  builds  up  its 
fibrous  skeleton,  while  its  surface  becomes  irregular 
and  full  of  large  and  small  holes,  and  the  true  sponge 
appears. 

And  now  comes  the  curious  part  of  the  story. 
As  the  sponge  grows  larger  it  is  clear  that  the  cells 
in  the  middle  of  its  body  must  be  more  and  more 
Fig.  12. 


Development  of  a  young  English  sponge.*— Adapted  from  Carter. 

3,  The  swimming  sponge  of  Fig.  1 1,  which  has  now  fixed  itself.  4, 
The  same  with  water  squirting  from  the  hole  now  formed.  5,  The 
same  further  developed.  6,  The  perfect  sponge  with  small  holes, 
where  the  water  enters,  and  large  holes  out  of  which  it  is  squirted. 

shut  out  from  the  surrounding  water  out  of  which 
food  can  be  taken,  and  yet  these  cells  want  feeding 
as  much  as  those  outside.  In  order  to  bring  this 
about,  the  sponge-animal,  instead  of  growing  up  as  a 
solid  mass  of  slime-cells,  arranges  the  silky  fibres  of 
its  skeleton  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  a  number  of 
small  canals  or  passages  throughout  its  body,  and  these 
open,  as  we  have  seen,  sooner  or  later,  into  large  canals 

*    Halichondria  simnlans. 


40  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

or  main  thoroughfares,  while  the  slimy  sponge-body  is 
spread  out  as  a  thin  film  along  them  all.  In  this 
way  it  is  possible  for  the  sea-water  to  reach  right 
throughout  the  whole  body  of  the  sponge  along  the 
various  canals.  But  if  this  water  only  lay  still  from 
day  to  day,  no  fresh  food  could  be  brought,  and  the 
whole  \vould  become  stagnant  and  bad.  The  animal 
cannot  feed  or  even  breathe  unless  a  constant  fresh 
supply  of  water,  full  of  oxygen  and  living  beings,  is 
driven  through  the  canals. 

How  is  this  to  be  done  ? 

At  first  sight  it  seems  as  if  the  young  sponge 
were  behaving  very  foolishly  in  this  matter,  for  no 
sooner  has  it  settled  down  than  it  draws  in  all  the 
whip -like  hairs  outside  its  body  which  we  should 
have  thought  would  be  useful  for  driving  in  food,  and 
becomes  a  mass  of  smooth  slime-cells  with  large  and 
small  holes  scattered  here  and  there.  Still,  as  the 
water  goes  on  pouring  out  at  the  big  holes  (see  Fig. 
1 2),  it  is  clear  that  it  must  be  going  in  somewhere;  and 
on  cutting  open  the  living  sponge  and  watching  it 
at  work  the  secret  appears.  Here  and  there  through- 
out the  narrow  canals  of  the  skeleton  are  to  be  found 
little  chambers,  like  two  saucers  face  to  face  (i,Fig.  I  3), 
and  in  these  are  arranged  in  rows  a  number  of  whip- 
like  cells,  exactly  like  those  which  were  before  outside 
the  sponge.  It  is  the  whips  in  these  cells  which  do 
the  work  required.  Waving  ceaselessly  to  and  fro, 
they  drive  the  water  before  them  always  in  one  direc- 
tion, so  that  it  is  drawn  in  at  the  small  holes  (a  a, 
Fig.  i  3)  and  driven  out  at  the  large  ones  (b  ti).  By 
means  of  this  wonderful  contrivance  fresh  sea-water 
full  of  oxygen  and  living  plants  and  animals  is 


HO  W  SPONGES  LIVE.  4 1 

always  pouring  along  the  small  canals,  bringing  air 
and  food  to  each  cell  along  the  road,  while  the  bad 
water  out  of  which  the  slime  has  taken  all  the  oxy- 
gen, and  into  wrhich  it  has  thrown  the  hard  parts  and 
refuse  of  its  food,  is  driven  out  at  the  large  holes, 
carrying  away  with  it  all  that  is  hurtful  and  useless. 

Fig.  13. 


Section  of  an  ordinary  bath  sponge. — Murie. 

a  a  a,  Small  holes  where  the  water  enters,  b  b,  Large  holes  where 
it  flows  out.  c  c,  Chambers  with  whip-cells  which  drive  the  water  on. 
I,  A  chamber  enlarged  showing  the  cells.  2,  3,  Different  forms  of 
whip-cells. 

And  now  we  can  understand  why  the  sponge, 
though  a  mere  slime-animal,  is  classed  as  the  pioneer 
of  the  second  division  of  living  animals  ;  because  in  it 
quite  a  new  plan  of  structure  has  begun.  Starting  from 


42  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

one  egg,the  whole  sponge  is  one  single  individual ;  yet, 
when  grown  up  it  is  not  a  mere  mass  all  doing  the  same 
work,  as  in  the  simplest  animals,  for  it  has  learnt  the 
secret  of  division  of  labour;  and  while  one  set  of  cells, 
those  forming  the  smooth  slime,  are  busy  taking  in 
food,  the  other  and  whip-like  cells  are  foraging  for  this 
same  food  and  sweeping  away  the  refuse  ;  and,  be- 
tween these  two,  a  special  layer  of  smooth  cells  is 
employed  in  building  up  the  skeleton  which  supports 
the  whole  body. 

If  we  knew  only  the  grown-up  sponge,  we  might 
look  upon  it  as  a  society  of  two  kinds  of  slime - 
animals  living  together  and  building  a  common  house. 
But  when  we  consider  that  each  whole  sponge  comes 
from  a  single  egg,  growing  and  dividing  like  one  of 
the  eggs  of  the  higher  animals,  and  that  any  piece 
of  a  sponge-animal  is  able  to  settle  and  grow  up 
into  a  perfect  sponge  with  the  two  kinds  of  cells,  we 
see  that  these  animals  have  made  a  great  step  never 
again  to  be  forgotten  by  the  children  of  Life.  They 
have  learned  to  form  in  one  body  two  kinds  of  cells 
with  different  duties,  which,  by  their  mutual  labour, 
carry  on  in  one  being  the  work  of  life. 

We  are  now,  I  hope,  able  to  picture  to  ourselves 
the  sponge  growing  upon  the  rocks  in  deep  water,  or 
sometimes  in  shallow  pools,  or  between  the  tide- 
marks,  looking  like  a  smooth  mass  of  slime  of 
different  shapes,  with  holes  invariably  open  as  long 
as  it  is  under  water,  but  closed  (as  we  shall  find  on 
the  English  shores)  if  the  sponge  is  by  chance  left 
high  and  dry  by  the  tide.  We  can  imagine  to  our- 
selves the  small  fountains  of  water  spouting  from 


HO  IV  SPONGES  LIVE.  43 

the  larger  openings,  and  carrying  off  the  refuse  from 
the  inside  of  the  sponge,  and  we  can  fancy  we  see 
the  small  chambers  buried  in  the  canals  with  their 
active  inmates  lashing  the  water  onwards  in  its  course 
through  the  whole  mass. 

But  we  have  yet  to  consider  the  skeleton  of  the 
living  animal,  and  why  so  much  time  and  labour 
should  be  spent  in  forming  it.  There  are  two 
reasons  why  a  solid  framework  is  useful  to  the 
sponge-animal.  First,  it  supports  the  large  mass  of 
soft  slime,  and  enables  it  to  spread  itself  out  in  thin 
layers,  so  as  to  touch  the  water  in  the  canals  ;  and, 
secondly,  it  protects  it  from  enemies. 

There  are  a  few  sponges  made  entirely  of  slime, 
the  canals  and  thoroughfares  being  in  the  slime  itself; 
and  in  these,  when  the  animal  dies  and  decays,nothing 
solid  is  left  behind.  But  such  sponges  have  probably 
become  degraded  and  have  lost  their  skeleton,  and  they 
are  clearly  under  a  disadvantage,  for  the  walls  of  slime 
are  forced  to  be  much  thicker,  and  food  cannot  reach 
them  so  easily  ;  and  besides  this,  when  we  remember 
how  many  sea-animals  feed  on  living  slime,  we  can- 
not but  see  that  these  sponges  offer  a  very  tempting 
feast.  Comparatively  large  animals,  such  as  shrimps 
and  fish,  will  take  big  mouthfuls  out  of  them,  while  the 
water-fleas  and  smaller  sea-worms  which  are  carried 
through  their  canals,  are  quite  as  ready  to  eat  the 
slime  as  the  slime  is  to  eat  them.  But  if  the  sponge 
can  offer  a  very  tough  and  unpalatable  mouthful,  or 
can  prick  its  enemies'  mouths  with  a  sharp  point, 
they  will  not  be  so  ready  to  take  a  second  bite ;  and 
so  it  comes  to  pass  that  we  find  in  sponges  some  of 
the  most  curious  weapons  imaginable. 


44 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig.  14. 


The  sponges  we  use  are  by  no  means  the  first 
attempts  at  sponge-skeletons  ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
represent  the  highest  art  in  sponge-building.  The 
simplest  kind  of  sponges  build  their  skeletons  of 
lime  and  flint,  as  did  the  earlier  slime-animals.  Fig. 
14  is  a  picture  of  a  lime -sponge.  Here  the  outer 
layer  of  sponge -flesh  has  taken  in  lime  and  built 
up  with  it  a  number  of  little  pointed  spikes  or 
spicules,  which  lie  buried  in  the 
slime.  The  rest  of  the  sponge  is 
composed  entirely  of  the  sponge- 
animal,  the  outer  cells  being  smooth 
and  the  inner  ones  whip-like,  so 
that  water  and  fojod  are  drawn  in 
at  the  small  holes  in  the  sides, 
while  the  refuse  is  driven  out  at  the 
large  hole  in  the  top. 

Now  suppose  that  a  fish  attacks 
this  sponge,  instead  of  a  mouthful 
\   of  soft  slime  he  will   bite  upon   a 
number    of   minute    sharp    points 
|   which  he  will  carry  away  sticking 
to  the   soft   lining  of  his   mouth, 
and  the  next  time  he  sees  such  a 
sponge  growing,  he   will   hesitate 
before     touching     it.       In     some 
Sponge  with   lime   sponges  these  lime-thorns  are  so 
spicules    forming    the  arranged  that  they  lie  flat  against 


a  complete  hedge  of  spikes  round 
the  holes  when  it  is  taking  in  water,  showing  that  it  is 
not  only  against  the  fish  that  it  is  protecting  itself, 

*  Ascctla  primwdlaUs, 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE.  45 

but  against  the  smaller  but  dangerous  animals,  which 
might  be  washed  into  it.  In  another  sponge  the  spic- 
ules  point  towards  the  mouth  at  the  top,  so  that  any 
creature  which  has  got  in  can  be  easily  thrown  out 
but  one  trying  to  get  in  would  be  spiked  directly. 

Lime  -  sponges 
are  to  be  found  in 
most  parts  of  the 
world,  and  some  of 
them  are  very  beau- 
tiful from  the  ar- 
rangement of  their 
spicules.  But  these 
look,  after  all,  like 
mere  rough  attempts 
at  spike  -  building 
when  compared  with 
the  wonderful  spic- 
ules which  are  made 

by  the  flint -build-  Spicules  of  flint  found  in  the  flesh  of 
ing  sponges.  flint -sponges.  Real  size  a  mere  speck, 

Fig.  °I5  shows  almost  invislble  to  the  naked  eye> 
only  a  very  few  of  the  forms  of  flint  spicules  which 
are  known.  They  look,  under  the  microscope,  as 
if  the  sponge -animal  were  an  artist  trying  how 
many  curious  patterns  he  could  invent  ;  and  yet 
Dr.  Bowcrbank  has  shown  that  each  of  these 
shapes  has  some  special  use,  either  in  keeping  out 
enemies,  in  supporting  the  sponge,  or  in  spiking  and 
entangling  the  smaller  animals  which  form  the  food 
of  the  sponge-animal.  Often  as  many  as  from  three 
to  seven  different  shapes  may  be  found  in  one  single 
sponge,  forming  by  their  combinations  intricate  and 


46  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

beautiful  patterns.  Yet  each  one  of  these  spicules, 
perfect  and  complete  in  form  as  it  is,  is  so  small  as 
to  be  barely  visible  as  a  speck  to  the  naked  eye,  and 
so  transparent  that  when  mounted  on  glass  for  the 
microscope  it  is  impossible  to  detect  even  a  group  of 
them  without  a  lens. 

In  Fig.  1 6  may  be  seen  three  kinds  in  their  natural 
position   in  the  flesh   of  the  sponge,  the  large  ones 
binding  the  sponge  together,  and  the  small  feathery 
and  anchor-shaped  spicules  protecting  the  flesh  ;  and 
jrig  j6  small  as  these  last  appear, 

yet  they  are  even  now 
magnified  100  times. 
Lastly,  in  the  higher  flint- 
buildingspongesthe  archi- 
tect gets  beyond  mere 
separate  spicules,  or  binds 
them  together  so  skil- 
fully with  fine,  transparent 
flint  threads  that  they 
form  a  network  of  wond- 

A  piece  of  a  flint-sponge  with  the  ,  T        .  . 

tarcode  or  flesh,  magnified  100  times.    ro"S  beauty.      Looking  at 

—From  life.  the  marvellously  delicate 

Venus'  basket  (Fig.  17)  which  grows  in  the  seas 
near  the  Philippine  Islands,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
persuade  ourselves  that  the  flint-lace  of  which  it  is  made 
has  been  constructed  by  an  animal  with  no  eyes  to  see 
the  beautiful  pattern  it  was  weaving,  and  no  machinery 
in  its  body  with  which  to  direct  the  web;  and  that  out  of 
mere  slime  cells  has  arisen  a  fairy  structure  such  as  the 
most  skilled  human  artist  might  try  in  vain  to  rival ! 
These  sponges  live  chiefly  in  very  deep  water.  In  one 
of  them,  called  the  glass-rope  sponge,  the  animal  is 


HO  W  SPONGES  LIVE. 


47 


anchored  to  the  bottom  by  long  flint  threads,  often 
several  feet  long,  looking  like  the  finest  spun  glass. 

And  now  we  find  the 
sponge-animal  advancing 
yet  a  step  farther,  and 
beginning  no  longer  to 
build  entirely  with  lime 
and  flint  taken  from  the 
water,  but  to  manufacture 
its  own  material.  We  all 
know  that  the  spider  spins 
its  web  of  threads  of 
gum  formed  in  its  body, 
and  that  the  silk  of  the 
silkworm  is  made  in  the 
same  manner,  and  now  we 
have  to  learn  that  the 
sponge  -  animal  with  its 
simple  slime  cells  can  do 
this  too!  For  all  the 
sponges  which  we  use  are 
made  of  fine  fibres,  which 
prove,  when  examined,  to 
differ  very  little  chemically 
from  the  silk  of  the  silk- 
worm. These  fibres  have 
been  secreted  by  the  slime- 
animal  out  of  its  food,  and 

by  crossing'  and  re-cross-  ,. 

.  y  °  Venus'  Basket.*  The  skeleton  of  a 

ing  them  in  all  directions  flint-sponge. 

it   forms  the   soft  elastic 

skeleton  of  the  toilet  sponge.    Yet  they  are  not  woven 

carelessly  or  without  purpose,  for  we  have  seen  that  they 

*  Euplcctella  speciosa. 


43  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

are  so  arranged  as  to  build  up  the  small  canals  and 
the  large  tubes  in  their  right  positions;  and  though  all 
may  look  confused  to  us,  yet  there  is  no  part  which  the 
water  cannot  reach  in  its  passage  through  the  sponge. 
At  first  in  the  coarser  sponges  the  fibre  is  thick 
and  loosely  woven,  and  though  it  is  tough-and  almost 

impossible  to  bite  or 
digest,  yet  it  leaves 
such  large  openings  as 
to  afford  but  a  poor 
protection.  In  these 
sponges  flint  spicules 
are  still  built  in  with 
the  fibre,scattered  about 
in  all  directions  :  and, 
because  of  the  sharp- 
ness of  the  spicules, 
their  skeletons  are  of 
very  little  use  to  us. 
But  little  by  little,  in 
sponges  of  a  finer  web, 

in  which  the  tough  silky 

Cup-sponge  growing  in  the  sea.      Real    cu  v       1 

size ;  about a  foot  high.-/™/,  Fignicr.    fibres     are     so     ctosely 

matted  together  as  to 

repel  all  intruders,  we  find  the  sponge-animal  begin- 
ning to  neglect  the  formation  of  spicules,  and  content- 
ing itself  with  building  in  fragments  of  sand,  making 
those  gritty  sponges  so  disagreeable  to  handle.  And 
by  and  by  it  ceases  even  to  do  this,  and  in  the  fine 
soft  Turkey  sponge  we  find  the  holes  so  small  that 
no  enemy  large  enough  to  do  harm  could  enter,  while 
the  densely  woven  fibres  offer  a  most  unpalatable  and 
indigestible  morsel  to. any  creature  which  might  have 


HOW  SPONGES  LIVE.  49 

the  strength  to  tear  it  away ;  and  these,  needing  no 
further  protection,  are  made  entirely  of  soft  fibre. 

Here  we  must  leave  the  history  of  sponges  and 
their  lives.  We  have  left  much  unsaid,  for  to  tell 
how  sponges  may  increase  by  dividing  or  by  budding, 
as  well  as  by  eggs,  would  have  taken  us  too  far  into 
detail  ;  neither  could  we  give  space  to  trace  the 
wonderful  way  in  which  the  various  spicules  are  used 
as  weapons  of  defence  ;  and  for  special  examples  of 
the  different  kinds  of  sponges  you  must  consult  works 
on  natural  history.  We  have  had  one  chief  object  in 
view,  namely,  to  see  how  Life  in  this  new  form  has 
advanced  beyond  the  earliest  slime -animals.  The 
sponge,  with  its  two  forms  of  cells  and  its  division  of 
labour,  stands  already  far  above  the  microscopic 
beings  of  our  last  chapter.  Rooted  to  the  rocks,  and 
large  enough  to  invite  the  attacks  of  enemies,  it  has 
yet  learnt  to  protect  itself  by  wonderful  structures, 
to  distribute  its  food  throughout  a  large  body,  and 
last,  but  not  least,  no  longer  to  form  its  skeleton 
merely  ^>f  flint  or  lime,  but  to  manufacture  in  its  own 
body  the  material  with  which  it  builds. 

It  has  indeed  succeeded  so  well  that  Dr.  Bower- 
bank,  one  of  the  best  authorities  on  sponge  life,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  sponges  are  able  to  escape 
almost  entirely,  during  their  lifetime,  from  becoming 
the  food  of  other  animals.  It  is  only  after  their 
death  that  their  slime  serves  to  nourish  myriads  of 
minute  creatures,  and  then  the  wonderful  rapidity 
with  which  the  living  matter  is  devoured,  is  quite 
enough  to  prove  to  us  how  well  the  living  sponge 
must  have  used  its  weapons  to  protect  itself,  while 
still  it  was  one  of  Life's  living  children. 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  LASSO-THROWERS  OF  THE  PONDS  AND  OCEANS. 

"  Transparent  forms  too  fine  for  mortal  sight, 
Their  fluid  bodies  half  dissolved  in  light." 


Millions  on  millions  thus,  from  age  to  age, 

With  simplest  skill,  and  toil  unwearyable, 

No  moment  and  no  movement  unimproved, 

Laid  line  on  line,  on  terrace,  terrace  spread, 

To  swell  the  heightening,  brightening,  gradual  mound, 

By  marvellous  structure  climbing  tow'rds  the  day, 

Each  wrought  alone,  yet  all  together  wrought 

Unconscious,  not  unworthy  instruments 

By  which  a  hand  invisible  was  rearing 

A  new  creation  in  the  secret  deep. 

MONTGOMERY. 


;>  F  among  all  the  children  of 
life  we  wished  to  choose  out 
the  most  brilliant,  graceful,  and 
sylph-like  creatures  whose  histories 
are  more  like  fairy  poems  than 
sober  reality,  we  could  scarcely  do 
better  than  select  those  which  we 
are  now  going  to  study  under  the 
name  of  the  "  lasso-throwers,"  and 
strange  as  this  name  may  appear, 
I  hope  to  show  that  it  is  not  too 
fanciful  to  be  accurate. 

Every  one  knows  that  the  long 
cord  or  thong  called  the  lasso  is 
the  peculiar  weapon  of  the  South 
From  his  earliest  childhood  the 


American   hunter 


THE  LA  SSO  •  THRO  WERS. 


young  Gaucho  learns  to  play  with  the  lasso,  and 
almost  as  soon  as  he  can  walk,  amuses  himself  by 
catching  young  birds  and  other  animals  round  his 
father's  hut,  throwing  out  the  long  lash  so  skilfully 
that  the  noose  falls  over  their  bodies  and  brings  them 
to  his  feet.  As  soon  as  he  can  ride  he  carries  the 
sport  farther,  galloping  wildly  over  the  plains  swing- 
ing the  cord  round  his  head  and  letting  fly  at  the 
ostriches,  the  wild  cattle,  and  horses,  or  when  he  is 
a  man,  even  at  the  jaguar  or  the  puma.  Such  is  the 
lasso  as  man  uses  it,  consisting  of  a  long  cord  or 
thong  thrown  with  exquisite  skill. 

Now  among  animals,  as  we  have  already  seen,  any 
weapons  they  are  to  Fi 

use  must  be  such  as  i  2 

grow  upon  the  body, 
and  we  should  little 
suspect  that  a  simple 
jelly-animal  could  be 
provided  with  a  lasso 
ready  grown  within 
its  flesh.  Yet  so  it 
is.  In  that  division 
of  life's  children, 
standing  in  rank  just 
above  the  sponges  The  fresh-water  hydra  hanging  from  duck- 

we  find  a  weapon  of  weed  in  a  pond. 

,i_.      i  •     i  .        ,  I.  The  long-armed  hydra*  feeding,    aw 

this  kind  as  simple,  small  animals  caught  in  its  arms.    2.  Short- 
as    deadly,    and     far   armed  hydrat  throwing  off  young  hydra- 
more    wonderful    in  buds'  b  b' 
its  action  than  the  lasso  of  the  American  hunter. 
In  almost  any  wayside  pond  in  England  it  is  pos- 

*  Hydra  fnsca.  +  Hydra  viridis. 


52  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

sible  to  find,  either  hanging  from  under  the  leaves 
of  the  common  duckweed,  or  clinging  to  pieces  of 
floating  stick,  or  rooted  to  stones  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pond,  a  little  greenish  being  (Fig.  19),  about 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  long,  looking  like  a  tube  with  a 
circlet  of  feelers  at  the  end,  which  are  waving  in  the 
water.  This  creature  is  the  common  pond  hydra,  and 
it  is  in  fact  nothing  more  than  a  tube  or  sac,  with  a 
sucker  at  one,  end  to  hold  on  with,  and  a  number  of 
jelly-arms  or  tentacles  at  the  other,  which  serve  to 
catch  its  food,  and  to  tuck  it  into  the  sac,  where  it 
is  digested.  The  walls  of  the  sac  are  firm  and  mus- 
cular, and  the  creature  can  stretch  itself  out,  or  draw 
back  at  will,  can  move  along  slowly  by  means  of  its 
sucker,  and  even  float  upon  the  water;  but  the  most 
remarkable  thing  about  it,  and  the  one  we  wish  to 
study-  now,  is  the  power  which  it  has  of  overcoming 
animals  stronger  and  more  active  than  itself. 

Groping  about  with"  its  flexible  arms,  which  are 
covered  with  fine  jelly- hairs  by  which  it  seems  to 
feel,  it  touches  perhaps  a  water -flea,  a  water -worm, 
or  even  a  tiny  newly -born  fish,  passing  by  in  the 
water.  Instantly  it  twists  its  arms  round  whatever 
it  finds,  and  though  its  prey  may  struggle  vigorously 
while  the  hydra  remains  almost  still,  yet  little  by 
little  the  struggles  cease,  and  the  victim  is  drawn 
into  the  fatal  sac. 

Now,  why  is  this  ?  It  is  because  those  fine 
tender  feelers  of  the  hydra  are  full  of  lassos,  which 
it  can  use  with  as  good  effect  as  any  skilled  hunter. 
Although  to  the  naked  eye  each  tentacle  looks  but 
little  more  than  a  fine  hair,  yet,  when  examined 
under  a  strong  microscope,  it  is  seen  to  be  crowded 


THE  LASSO  -  THRO  WERS. 


53 


Fig.  20. 


with  hundreds  of  clear  transparent  cells  (l,  Fig.  20), 
so  small  that  200  of  the  largest  of  them  would  lie 
side  by  side  in  an  inch,  while  many  are  not  more 
than  xsVftth  of  an  inch  long,  and  each  of  these 
cells  contains  a  formidable  weapon.  Within  the  cell, 
lying  bathed  in  a  poisonous  fluid,  is  coiled  a  long 
delicate  thread,  barbed  at  the  base  (2,  3,  Fig.  20), 
and  this  thread 
may  well  be  call- 
ed a  lasso,  since 
it  is  always  many, 
and  often  from 
twenty  to  forty 
times  as  long  as 
the  cell  itself,  and 
only  waits  for  the 
bag  to  burst  to 
fling  itself  out  to  ,.  Piece  of  one  of  the  hydra,s  arms>  showing 

its  full  length.          the  cells  crowded  in  it.     2.   One  of  the  cells. 
Now     lookup-   3- The  same  cell  after  bursting  open.     4.  Lasso- 

»   cell  of  an  anemone, 
at  the  hydra,  Fig. 

19,  picture  to  yourself  that  each  of  its  delicate 
thread-like  tentacles  is  crowded  with  hundreds  of 
these  lasso-cells,  only  waiting  the  word  of  command 
to  discharge  their  weapons.  By  and  by  the  two 
worms  (a  a)  come  within  reach,  and  rub  against  the 
tentacles,  instantly  every  cell  that  is  touched  bursts 
open,  and  with  a  spring  its  lasso  is  set  free  and 
shoots  out,  piercing  through  the  skin  of  the  worm. 

And  now  we  can  see  where  the  hydra's  strength 
lies.  He  has  no  need  to  struggle,  for  his  victim  is 
pierced  by  a  number  of  darts,  and  the  poisonous  fluid 
from  the  cells  is  pouring  into  him.  And  there  is 


\ 

Lasso-cells  of  the  Hydr 


54  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

great  reason  why  the  hydra  should  take  it  so  quietly; 
he  does  not  wish  to  waste  his  lassos,  for  a  cell  once 
burst  cannot  be  used  again,  and  he  will  have  to 
grow  a  new  one  for  each  one  that  he  exhausts.  So 
he  waits  patiently  for  the  spell  to  work,  and  does 
not  hug  his  victim  too  close  until  he  is  half  conquered, 
and  then  he  draws  him  gently  in. 

So  the  hydra  lives  and  catches  its  food  without 
needing  to  move  far  from  the  place  of  its  birth.  All 
the  summer  through  it  puts  out  buds  (see  b  b,  Fig. 
19)  from  its  side,  and  these  buds,  as  soon  as  their 
tentacles  are  grown,  drop  from  their  parent  and  settle 
in  life  for  themselves,  so  that  any  pond  may  contain 
hundreds  of  them  ;  and  when  the  winter  comes,  and 
before  they  all  die,  an  egg  appears  near  the  base  of 
the  tubes  of  those  which  are  then  living,  and  these 
eggs  lie  till  next  spring,  when  they  are  hatched,  and 
produce  a  new  generation  of  hydras. 

This  is  the  simplest  lasso-thrower,  and  I  think 
you  will  allow  that  his  lasso  is  both  wonderful  and 
deadly,  so  that,  though  these  hydras  are  the  only 
lasso-throwers  to  be  found  in  fresh  water,*  it  is  easy 
to  understand  that  his  relations  in  the  wide  ocean 
should  have  made  good  use  of  the  new  weapon  with 
which  life  has  provided  them,  and  secured  homes  and 
resting-places  throughout  the  whole  world  of  waters, 
and  under  all  kinds  of  strange  shapes  and  forms. 

From  the  North  Sea  to  the  Tropics,  from  the 
pools  on  the  shore  at  low  tide  to  the  depths  of  the 
wide  ocean,  we  meet  everywhere  with  this  division  of 
"  lasso-throwers."  Now  in  the  shape  of  large  jelly-fish 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  a  fresh-water  Medusa  has  been  fornd 
in  the  tank  of  the  Victoria  Regia  in  the  Botanical  Gardens,  Regent's 
Pa.k. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  55 

covering  the  sea  for  miles  and  miles,  so  that  a  ship 
may  sail  through  them  during  many  days,  the  sailors 
watching  their  transparent  domes  by  day,  and  being 
illuminated  by  the  light  of  their  phosphorescence  by 
night.  Now  as  tiny  jelly-bells,  floating  like  glistening 
specks  by  millions  in  some  quiet  bay, and  breaking  into 
light  as  they  are  dashed  upon  the  beach.  Or  again 
in  the  form  of  horny  animal-trees  often  two  or  three 
feet  in  height,  waving  their  gracefully  arched  branches 
over  the  rocks  in  the  deep  water,  or  creeping  like 
delicate  threads  over  shells  and  stones  and  seaweed  on 
the  shore,  where  they  are  often  mistaken  for  plants. 

There  is  scarcely  a  nook  or  cranny  in  the  bed  of 
the  ocean  where  some  of  these  tree -like  forms  are 
not  to  be  found,  associated  with  the  beautiful  sea- 
anemones,  with  their  brilliant  colours  of  emerald 
green,  crimson,  glowing  purple,  and  vivid  orange, 
which  belong  to  this  same  division,  as  does  also  the 
living  coral  nestling  in  the  bosom  of  the  warm  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  or  struggling  boldly  against  the  waves 
of  the  Pacific,  as  branch  after  branch  is  added  to  its 
stem  by  the  constant  labours  of  the  tiny  jelly-polyps 
spreading  their  gaily  coloured  tentacles  out  of  every 
cup  of  the  coral  tree. 

All  these  beautiful  creatures  are  "  lasso-throwers." 
Scientific  men  call  them  Ccelenterata  or  "hollow-bodied 
animals,"  because  of  the  large  cavity  within  their 
bodies,  and  divide  them  into  Hydrosoa  (water- 
animals)  and  Actinozca  (ray-like  animals,  such  as 
the  anemone),  but  for  us  it  is  sufficient  to  know  that, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  they  all  seize  their  prey  by 
means  of  the  lasso,  and  we  can  pass  on  to  learn 
something  of  how  they  pass  their  lives. 


56  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  collect  seaweed  on  any 
coast  without  finding  upon  it  what  look  like  minute 
plants  (Fig.  2  I )  with  frequent  joints.  Some  of  these, 
which  are  formed  of  chalk,  are  true  plants,  but  others, 
which  are  yellowish  and  horny,  are  no  less  certainly 
animals,  and  you  may  soon  detect  these  by  means  of 
a  magnifying  glass,  for  they  will  bear  at  each  joint 
a  little  cup  (c  c\  and  if  you  could  watch  these  cups 


Fig.  21 


The  Sea-Oak.* — Adapted  from  Hincks. 

I.  The  animal-tree  growing  of  the  natural  size.  2.  A  piece  of  one 
branch  enlarged,  showing  the  animal  b  stretching  out  of  the  horny  cup 
c,  and  one  of  the  egg-sacs  s. 

when  the  creature  is  alive,  you  would  see  out  of  each 
one  from  12  to  1 6  transparent  tentacles  (b  fr)  sweep- 
ing round  in  search  of  food. 

This  tree-like  stem. is  in  fact  the  home  of  a  hydra 
of  the  sea.  The  creature  itself  is  like  the  pond  hydra, 
only  that  its  buds  do  not  fall  off  but  continue  to  live 

*  Siriularia  phiuinla. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  57 

all  together,  each  enclosed  in  a  cup  made  of  a  pecu- 
liar substance  called  chitin,  which  is  nearly  allied  to 
horn,  and  which  also  forms  the  skin  of  insects.  The 
whole  stem  is  only  one  individual,  for  a  fine  living 
thread  passes  down  through  the  bottom  of  each  cup 
and  meets  all  the  others  within  the  stem,  so  that  the 
food  digested  in  each  tiny  stomach  goes  to  feed  the 
whole  animal. 

Here  then  we  have  hundreds  of  tiny  lasso-throwers 
acting  as  mouths  and  stomachs  to  one  Sertularia,  as 
this  specimen  is  called.  Each  mouth  or  polypite  is 
so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  seen  even  as  a  speck  by 
the  naked  eye,  yet  it  has  sixteen  tiny  arms,  and  each 
arm  is  crowded  with  lasso-cells ! 

And  now  in  the  summer  months,  between  May 
and  September,  small  round  bags  (S,  2,  Fig.  2  i)  appear 
scattered  along  the  branches  of  this  animal-tree,  and 
each  one  of  these  is  full  of  eggs ;  and  by  and  by,  when 
the  eggs  are  hatched,  young  sertularians  swim  out  as 
little  round  jelly  bodies,  and  settling  down  on  some 
stone  or  seaweed  grow  up  into  new  stems  of  lasso- 
throwers. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  the  number  of 
minute  beings  which  are  feeding  in  this  way  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  This  particular  sertularia  or  sea- 
oak  coralline  (Fig.  21)  covers  the  seaweed  of  our 
coasts  with  miniature  animal  forests,  and  yet  it  is 
one  of  the  smaller  kinds,  sometimes  not  more  than 
half-an-inch  high.  Others  grow  on  shells  forming  a 
fleecy  covering  which  looks  only  like  a  little  white 
moss,  but  which  is  really  a  group  of  living  animals. 

Every  child  must  be  familiar  with  a  kind  of  rough 
crust  frequently  to  be  seen  outside  old  shells,  but  pro- 


58  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

bably  few  have  ever  thought  that  this  is  often  the 
remains  of  the  home  of  a  lasso -thrower,  any  more 
than  they  would  connect  the  tube-like  branches  on 
the  seaweed  with  a  living  animal. 

Try  for  one  moment  to  picture  to  yourself  some 
quiet  spot  in  the  ocean-bed,  where  the  whole  floor  is 
carpeted  with  such  forms,  and  every  shell  and  sea- 
weed carries  some  hundreds  of  tiny  beings  all 
stretching  out  their  waving  tentacles  and  flinging  out 
their  miniature  lassos  to  strike  their  prey.  You  would 
see  here  and  there  among  them  tall,  graceful,  animal 
trees,  such  as  the  sea-fir,"""  which  often  grows  up  into 
a  brown  upright  tree  more  than  three  feet  high,  with 
branches  bearing  as  many  as  a  hundred  thousand 
cups,  each  with  its  pure  white  polypite  stretching  out, 
and  looking  wonderfully  delicate  against  the  dark 
stem  ;  while  side  by  side  with  it  may  be  standing 
the  tube-hydra,f  which  has  single  yellow  pipes, 
out  of  each  of  which  a  brilliant  scarlet  creature  is 
waving  its  graceful  tentacles.  All  this  life  is  active 
and  busy,  and  yet  it  is  all  made  up  of  beings  so 
insignificant  to  us  that  we  have  hardly  any  idea  of 
their  existence. 

And  while  you  were  watching  these  thousands  of 
tiny  arms  you  might  perhaps  witness  a  strange  sight 
if  your  eyes  were  sharp  enough  to  see  it.  From 
an  animal  tree  very  like  the  sertularia  (i,  Fig.  22), 
except  that  its  horny  cups  are  borne  upon  stalks, 
you  might  see  escaping  some  little  beings  looking 
like  green  shining  bubbles,  and  these,  if  seen  under 
the  microscope,  turn  out  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
fairy  jelly-bells  (3',  Fig.  22),  like  pure  crystal  domes 

*  Sertularia  aipressina.  t   Tuliihiria  indivisa. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS. 


59 


swimming  gaily  along  in  the  water  by  driving  in  and 
out  the  jelly- veil  (v,  3)  spread  across  their  rim. 

Anything  to  exceed  the  delicacy  and  beauty  of 
these  tiny  jelly  globes  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  and 

Fig.    22. 


The  Campanulina. — Hincks. 

1.  Natural  size  of  the  animal  tree,     s,  Natural  size  of  the  sac  con- 
taining the  jelly-bell.     3'.   Natural  size  of  free  jelly-bell  floating  in  the 
water. 

2.  A    piece  of  the  fixed   animal-tree    magnified.       a  a,    Animal 
feeding,     s,  Sac  with  the  jelly-bell  upside  down  inside  it. 

3.  Free  jelly-bell  magnified,     v,  The  veil  across  the  bell.     /,  Feed- 
ing tube  of  the  animal,     m,  The  mouth,     o,  The  ovary  in  the  canals  of 
the  bell,     b  b,  Coloured  spots  in  the  rim. 

as  they  are  easily  bred  in  a  salt-water  aquarium,  all 
their  life-history  may  be  carefully  studied.     Minute 
as  they  are,  the  pulsation  of  the  bell  as  they  propel 
4 


60  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

themselves  along  may  be  distinctly  seen  with  the 
naked  eye  ;  and  when  put  in  a  drop  of  water  under 
the  microscope,  all  the  different  parts  of  the  body,  as 
shown  at  3,  Fig.  22,  can  be  clearly  made  out.  For 
this  bell  is  a  true  and  delicately  organised  living 
being.  It  is  a  new  instrument  which  Life  has 
invented  for  carrying  the  eggs  of  the  animal - 
tree  far  away  over  the  sea.  While  the  mouths, 
a  a,  are  busily  catching  food  for  the  whole  animal 
by  their  lassos,  there  has  been  growing  on  part 
of  the  stem  a  bag  (S),  in  which  this  little  bell  has 
been  formed,  and  when  it  is  ready  to  start  on  its 
journey  the  bag  opens  at  the  tip  and  the  bell 
struggles  out.  How  gracefully  it  now  drives  itself 
along  by  shooting  water  in  and  out  of  the  hole  in  its 
thin  veil  as  it  contracts  and  expands  its  rim,  and 
from  the  water  thus  driven  in,  its  mouth  (m)  takes 
the  minute  living  beings,  and  digesting  them  in  its 
tube  t,  sends  the  nourishment  down  the  canals  to  the 
rim,  and  so  over  the  whole  bell ;  while  in  the  little 
bags  o  in  the  canals  it  forms  and  carries  the  eggs  to 
be  dropped  down  on  some  distant  spot  to  grow  up 
into  a  new  animal-tree. 

Thus  this  minute  bell  is  a  living,  active  creature 
with  all  the  necessary  parts  for  swimming  and  feed- 
ing, and  also  for  forming  eggs  to  give  birth  to  young 
ones  by  and  by.  Its  whole  body  is  crowded  with 
lasso-cells,  though  it  does  not  seem  greatly  to  need 
them,  and  what  is  much  more  interesting,  in  many 
cases  it  even  bears  on  its  rim  the  first  attempts  at 
eye's  and  ears. 

Often  the  passage  of  these  tiny  bells  through  the 
water  can  only  be  traced  by  some  bright  spots  like 


THE  LASSO  -  THRO  WERS.  6  r 

coloured  gems  set  in  its  rim  (b  b,  3,  Fig.  22).  Blue, 
scarlet,  orange,  all  the  most  vivid  colours  seem  chosen 
to  give  them  brilliancy,  and  inside  the  spots  are  in 
some  cases  to  be  found  little  grains  of  lime  which 
roll  to  and  fro  and  probably  form  the  simplest  hear- 
ing apparatus  in  nature,  while  some  crystals  which 
refract  light  are  the  first  beginnings  of  eyes.* 

Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  these  minute  jelly-bells 
are  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  and  that  our 
imagination  sinks  appalled  when  we  have  to  believe 
that  such  complex  beings  have  sprung  from  the  tiny 
buds  on  the  animal-tree  (i,  Fig.  22)  ? 

In  the  early  summer  the  sea  is  full  of  these  little 
bells  rising  like  constant  bubbles  from  the  animal- 
forest  below.  Some  are  mere  microscopic  specks, 
others  as  large  as  thimbles,  while  some  look  like 
glass  cups  floating  in  the  sea.  They  are  all  more  or 
less  tinted  with  lovely  and  delicate  colours,  and  though 
an  unpractised  eye  cannot  distinguish  them,  yet  they 
may  be  caught  in  a  fine  muslin  net  swept  through 
the  water  and  examined  under  a  microscope,  or  in 
an  aquarium  ;  while  on  a  calm  evening,  when  the  sea 
breaks  in  ripples  on  the  sand,  their  presence  is 
betrayed  by  the  glow  of  phosphorescence  fringing 
the  shore. 

"  Figured  by  hand  Divine,  there's  not  a  gem, 
Wrought  by  man's  art,  to  be  compared  with  them. 
Soft,  brilliant,  tender,  through  the  wave  they  glow, 
And  make  the  moonbeams  brighter  where  they  flow." 

And  now  we  will  rest  our  eyes  from  straining  to 
cco  the  microscopic  lasso-throwers  and  turn  to  some 

*  In  the  higher  forms  of  Medusze  or  jelly-fish  the  presence  of  nerves 
has  now  been  clearly  proved  by  Hertwig,  Romanes,  Schafer,  and  others. 


62  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

of  the  large  jelly-fish  of  the  sea ;  for  after  watching 
the  floating- bells  we  cannot  doubt  that  those  enor- 
mous jelly  masses  which  we  see  sailing  along  in  the 
ocean  are  their  near  relations.  Indeed,  those  who 
swim  and  bathe  in  the  sea  can  testify  feelingly  to  the 
power  of  the  poisonous  lassos,  for  to  be  stung  by  a 
jelly-fish  is  no  slight  matter,  and  this  sting  is  given 
by  the  lasso-cells. 

Though  jelly-fish,  however,  are  uncomfortable  to 
meet  in  the  water,  they  are  most  interesting  to  watch 
from  a  boat,  or  the  head  of  a  pier,  as  they  move 
along  dome  foremost,  with  a  regular  movement,  as  if 
by  clockwork.  We  scarcely  realise  how  large  they 
are,  till  coming  close  to  them  we  lay  an  oar  over 
them,  and  find  perhaps  that  the  dome  measures  a 
foot  and  often  two  or  three  feet  across,  while  their 
tentacles  stretch  from  the  head  to  far  beyond  the 
stern  of  an  ordinary  boat  From  spring  to  late 
autumn  they  may  be  seen  when  the  weather  is  calm, 
sailing  on  the  water,  not  by  means  of  a  veil  like  the 
jelly-bells,  for  they  have  none,  but  by  the  movements 
of  their  huge  umbrella,  which  they  contract  when 
storms  arise,  and  so  sink  down  into  the  depths. 
What  is  the  history  of  these  huge  soft  masses  ? 

First  we  must  notice  how  very  little  solid  matter 
life  has  to  use  in  building  up  their  bulky  forms,  for 
when  a  jelly-fish  of  four  or  five  pounds'  weight  is  cast 
on  shore  and  dried  up  by  the  sun,  a  film  weighing  a 
few  grains  is  all  that  remains  ;  the  rest  was  all  water ! 
Yet  the  creature  is  wonderfully  made.  Take  for  in- 
stance the  jelly-fish  shown  in  Fig.  23.  Its  tawny, 
jellowish  umbrella  is  full  of  canals  carrying  the 
nourishment  over  the  whole  animal.  In  its  margin 


THE  LASSO -THROWERS. 


Fig.  23. 


rudimentary  eyes  and  ears  are  covered  with  a  delicate 
hood  to  shield  them  from  harm.  Powerful  muscles  con- 
tract and  expand 
the  rim  of  the  um- 
brella, guided  by 
nerves  lately  dis- 
covered in  these 
animals,  while  the 
rnouth  of  the  hang- 
ing stomach  (itself 
hidden  under  the 
umbrella)  has  long, 
tawny  lips  which 
trail  behind  it  like 
ribbon  sea -weed, 
and  are  most  for- 
midable weapons, 
for  they  are  crowd- 
ed with  powerful 
and  poisonous  las- 
so-cells. A  creature 
which  this  jelly-fish 
has  once  seized  in 
its  lips  must  die, 
for  even  if  it  can 
get  loose  from  the 
strong  grasp,  the 


poison  works   and 
it  soon  floats  dead 
on       the       water. 
Shrimps,    barnacles, 
even     the     strong 


A  jelly-fish,*  whose  life  history  is  given  in 
Fig.  24. 


small    fish 
cuttle  -  fish 


of    all    kinds,    and 
and     other     larger 


Chrysoara  hysocella. 


64  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

animals  of  the  sea,  are  devoured  by  this  ferocious 
lasso  -  thrower  as  he  moves  lazily  through  the 
water  expanding  and  contracting  the  rim  of  his  dome ; 
and  if  it  were  not  that  he  and  his  fellows  are  the 
chief  food  of  whales  and  porpoises,  they  would  com- 
mit terrible  havoc  in  the  ocean,  as  they  travel  in 
shoals  of  thousands  together. 

And  now  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  when  at 
night  the  sea  glows  with  their  phosphorescence,""  some 
of  these  large  wanderers  drop  from  under  their  huge 
umbrella  something  which  looks  like  a  shower  of 
dust.  This  shower  is  composed  of  a  number  of 
minute  jelly-bodies  (a,  Fig.  24)  swimming  by  means 
of  lashes  or  cilia,  and  something  like  those  which  come 
from  a  sponge  (see  p.  38).  They  have  been  hatched 
from  eggs  within  the  umbrella  of  the  jelly-fish,  and  are 
setting  off  into  life  for  themselves.  After  a  few  days 
four  curious  knobs  (b,  Fig.  24)  begin  to  appear  upon 
them,  and  these  increase  every  day  till  at  last  the 
swimming  animal  settles  down  on  a  rock  and  becomes 
a  small  hydra  feeding  peacefully  upon  minute  sea- 
animals  by  means  of  its  tender  threads. 

This  then  is  the  young  of  our  jelly-fish,  a  common 
hydra  like  that  of  the  pond  !  Moreover,  this  young 
hydra  seems  to  forget  all  about  its  wandering  parent- 
age, and  often  goes  on  for  several  years  budding  into 
other  hydras,  and  living  as  though  it  had  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  a  jelly-fish. 

But  at  last  one  day  a  change  comes  over  some  of 

*  The  phosphorescence  is  due  to  a  glutinous  fluid  exuded  from  the 
umbrella.  This  fluid,  when  squeezed  from  a  large  jelly-fish  into  twenty- 
seven  ounces  of  cows'  milk,  made  it  so  phosphorescent  that  a  letter  could 
be  read  by  the  light  at  a  distance  of  three  feet. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  65 

the  hydras  of  the  colony,  which  may  be  great-great- 
grand-buds  of  the  hydra  which  settled  down. 

They  lengthen  out  and  their  bodies  divide  into 
rings    (c  and  d,  Fig.   24),  and    as   these   rings  grow 
deeper  and  deeper  the  tentacles  fall  away  from  the 
Fig.  24. 


The  childhood  of  the  jelly-fish  shown  in  Fig.  23. 

a,  Swimming  jelly-body,  b,  The  same  fixed  to  a  rock,  which  may 
go  on  budding  like  a  hydra  and  giving  off  forms  like  itself  for  many 
years,  c,  The  hydra  beginning  to  divide  into  rings,  d,  Rings  becom- 
ing more  perfect,  e,  Rings  breaking  off  from  the  hydra,  e',  One  ring 
which  has  turned  over  and  begun  to  grow  into  a  jelly-fish,  e",  The 
same  developing  into  the  perfect  jelly-fish  as  in  Fig.  23. 

top  and  begin  to  grow  out  below  (e),  and  at  last  one  of 
the  rings  drops  off  from  the  top,  a  complete  saucer 
(/),  and  turning  over  so  that  the  domed  part  is  upper- 
most, begins  to  contract  and  expand  its  rim,  and  sails 
away  a  minute  jelly-fish  !  Other  rings  follow  in  its 
path,  and  the  descendant  of  the  fixed  hydra  has  again 
become  a  group  of  wandering  lasso-throwers. 

And  now  the  floating  domes  begin  to  grow  rapidly; 
in  each  one  the  umbrella  thickens,  the  stomach  with 


56  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

its  huge  lips  begins  to  lengthen  and  expand,  the 
eye-spots  develop  under  their  hooded  covering,  the 
tentacles  sweep  out  into  the  sea,  and  the  shoal  of 
terrible  monster  jelly-fish  is  abroad  again 

"all  in  motion 

Far  away  upon  the  ocean, 
Going  for  the  sake  of  going, 
Wheresoever  waves  are  flowing, 
Wheresoever  winds  are  blowing." 

And  here  we  must  leave  them.  The  history  of  all 
jelly-fish  is  not  exactly  alike,  for  they  do  not  all  go 
through  the  strange  transformations  just  described. 
The  beautiful  purple  Portuguese  man-of-war,  with  its 
rose-tinted  jelly-sail,  is  born  a  wanderer  like  its  parent, 
and  so  are  also  the  lovely  "  Hanging-Bells,"*  which 
have  from  ten  to  twelve,  and  even  sometimes  as 
many  as  sixty,  clear,  transparent  bells  hanging  from 
their  stalk,  like  blossoms  on  a  flower,  while  a  clear 
bubble  shining  like  quicksilver  serves  as  their  float. 
These  and  many  others  have  each  their  special  history 
for  those  who  care  to  study  them,  and  even  this  brief 
glance  at  the  wandering  lasso-throwers  will  surely 
lead  us  to  look  with  more  interest  on  the  shapeless 
dying  lump  of  jelly  on  the  sea-shore,  now  that  we 
know  it  to  have  been  an  active  living  animal  with 
powerful  weapons,  sensitive  nerves,  and  jewelled  eyes. 

After  following  the  free  adventurous  life  of  a 
travelled  jelly-fish,  it  seems  almost  like  visiting  some 
quiet  little  country  village,  to  turn  to  the  dreamy  sea- 
anemones,  living  from  day  to  day  in  their  rocky 
pools.  How  still  and  beautiful  they  are,  with  their 

*  Phosplioridac. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  67 

brilliant  greens,  and  reds,  and  yellows,  when,  after 
lying  closed  like  mere  lumps  of  jelly,  they  open  out 
into  gorgeous  flowers. 

The  sea -anemone  really  stands  higher  in  life 
than  the  hydra  and  its  companions,  for  the  tube 
of  its  body  is  double,  one 
end  being  doubled  back 
within  the  other  so  as  to 
make  a  small  sac  hanging 
within  a  large  one,  while 
a  hole  at  the  bottom  of  the 
little  sac  or  stomach  opens 
into  the  body-cavity  below. 
The  wall  of  the  body  be- 
tween thetwobagS  is  divided  Section  of  a  Sea-Anemone 
into  a  number  of  narrow  (^.having  special  darts,  d, 

which  shoot  out  when  it  is  at- 

partitions   (j,  Fig.  25),  upon   tacked,  m,  Mouth,   s,  Stomach, 

the  Sides  of  which  the  eggs   showing   the  partitions  on  the 

-     ,  sides    of    which    the   eggs    are 

of  the  young  anemones  are  forme<L  ff  Coil  of  lasso-threads 

formed,    and    OUt    of    which   in  the   stomach.       t,  Tentacles 

the  tentacles  spring  as  hoi-  ^f  are  crowded  with  lass°- 
low  tubes. 

Yet  it  is  more  in  the  way  of  fleshy  growth  than 
in  sagacity  that  the  anemone  has  advanced,  for  in 
sensitiveness  to  light  and  power  of  movement  he  is 
far  behind  the  floating  jelly-fish.  This  is  indeed  to 
be  expected,  for  in  his  quiet  stay-at-home  life  he 
needs  a  strong  muscular  body,  but  not  active  senses, 
and  so  we  find  that  while  his  lassos  are  powerful  and 
many,  his  sight  is  only  enough  to  lead  him  to  move 
towards  the  light,  and  he  shifts  slowly  along  when  he 
wishes  to  change  his  place,  or  floats  with  his  disk 
upwards,  without  being  able  to  choose  his  own  path. 


68 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


His  fishing  and  feeding  powers,  on  the  contrary, 
are  very  great.  Any  one  who  has  placed  his  finger 
among  the  tentacles  of  a  sea-anemone  will  have  felt 
how  they  cling  to  it,  so  that  it  is  not  always  easy 


Fig.  26. 


Group  of  Anemones. 

a  a,  Painted  Pufflet.*  6,  Snake-locked  anemone. t  f,  Daisy  anemone.  J 
d,  Cave  anemone.  §    e,  Gem  Pimplet|| 

to  draw  it  away.  The  touch  has  in  fact  burst  a 
number  of  lasso-cells,  and  the  threads  have  pierced 
the  flesh,  though  they  are  too  fine  to  give  pain.  Mr. 
Gosse  once  cut  off  a  piece  of  his  own  skin  with  a 
razor  and  put  it  to  the  tentacles  of  the  dahlia 
anemone  (Tealia  crassicomis\  and  when  he  afterwards 

*  F.drvardsia  calimnrf<hia.  t  Sagartia  •vidnata. 

J  Szgarlia  bulis.  %  ~<'0<''  tia  troglodytes.  ||  Diutuda  ^i/tinacea. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  69 

examined  it  under  the  microscope  he  found  it  full  of 
lasso-threads,  standing  up  like  pins  in  the  skin,  and 
showing  what  wounds  an  anemone  can  inflict.  Now, 
when  we  reflect  what  a  large  number  of  tentacles 
many  anemones  have  (a  full-grown  daisy  anemone  has 
more  than  seven  hundred),  we  see  that  they  must 
possess  an  almost  countless  number  of  lasso-cells, 
and  that  small  sea  animals,  such  as  shrimps,  worms, 
mussels,  sea-slugs,  and  young  fish,  must  fall  easy 
victims  to  the  poisonous  threads.  Even  if  any  crea- 
ture is  so  well  protected  by  its  shell  as  to  escape  the 
darts,  it  is  encircled  by  the  numerous  arms  and  thrust 
into  the  stomach,  at  the  bottom  of  which  it  meets 
with  another  thick  coil  of  lasso-threads  (c,  Fig.  25) 
which  are  soon  fatal.'" 

In  this  way  the  sea-anemones  obtain  abundance 
of  food,  and  they  seem  able  to  devour  an  almost 
unlimited  amount.  But  they  in 'their  turn  are  evi- 
dently very  open  to  attack,  having  such  soft  defence- 
less bodies  ;  and  in  fact  thousands  of  them  must  be 
devoured  every  day  by  sea-slugs  and  other  animals,  for 
they  multiply  so  very  rapidly  that  otherwise  the  whole 
shore  would  be  covered  with  them.  A  sea-anemone 
can  increase  in  three  ways,  either  by  splitting  in  half, 
or  by  throwing  out  buds,  or,  as  is  most  common,  by 
hatching  the  young  from  eggs  within  its  body.  It  is 
most  curious  to  see  in  an  aquarium  how  quickly  a 
crop  of  young  sea-anemones  springs  up  round  the  old 
ones.  Mr.  Holdsworth  found  that  daisy  anemones 
sometimes  throw  out  as  many  as  146,  160,  and  even 

*  Mr.  Charters  White  has  told  me  of  the  case  of  a  young  fish 
struggling  within  the  stomach  of  a  sea-anemone  and  coming  out  unin- 
jured ;  but  such  cases  are  rare,  and  may  occur  from  some  weakness  or 
indolence  in  the  particular  anemone  in  question. 


70  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

300,  in  one  day.  It  is  very  difficult  to  see  the  young 
anemones  born,  because  they  are  at  first  so  small  ; 
but  by  careful  watching  they  may  be  seen  coming 
out  through  the  mouth  of  their  parent,  sometimes  in 
the  shape  of  little  hairy  or  ciliated  swimming  bodies, 
but  more  often  as  perfect  tiny  anemones  which  have 
lived  inside  their  mother  till  their  tentacles  have 
grown.  After  they  have  been  hatched  among  the 
partitions  in  the  anemone's  body,  they  generally  travel 
into  her  hollow  tentacles,  and  from  there  they  are 
passed  out  through  the  mouth.  Then  after  walking 
about  a  little  while  on  the  tips  of  their  tiny  arms 
they  settle  down  and  begin  their  life. 

The  first  thing  they  learn  to  do  is  to  expand  to 
find  food,  and  this  they  do  by  taking  in  water  at 
their  mouth  or  through  their  skin  and  so  swelling  out 
the  whole  body.  But  should  an  enemy  come  by 
they  soon  force  the  water  out  again,  and  become  a 
small  lump,  very  difficult  to  seize.  It  is  most 
interesting  to  watch  an  anemone  when  it  wishes  to 
expand,  gradually  filling  itself  with  water,  and 
stretching  its  tender  skin  till  each  tentacle  falls  in  its 
place  as  a  graceful  flexible  tube,  and  then  again  in  a 
moment,  if  you  touch  it,  the  water  is  squirted  out,  and 
every  delicate  part  drawn  in  within  its  tough  hide. 

But  if  you  touch  a  daisy  anemone,  or  a  cave- 
dwelling  anemone,  in  this  way  you  will  find  that  it 
has  another  weapon  of  defence  hidden  in  the  body- 
tube  itself.  All  the  members  of  this  family  of 
anemones  (Sagartiadcz)  have  minute  slits  scattered 
over  the  outside  of  their  tube,  and  if  you  offend  them 
these  slits  open  and  long  white  threads  (d,  Fig.  25) 
are  shot  out  to  strike  you.  These  threads  come  from 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  71 

the  coil  of  lassos  within  the  body  ;  they  are  not  them- 
selves lassos  but  long  darts  crowded  with  lasso-cells, 
and  after  they  have  punished  the  enemy  that  attacks 
them,  they  can  be  drawn  in  again  to  be  used  next 
time.  By  far  the  larger  number  of  British  anemones 
have  these  darts  (called  Acontia),  so  that  we  find  even 
these  sluggish  stay-at-homes  well  able  to  fight  the 
battle  of  life. 

But  mingled  in  among  these  soft  lasso-throwers 
even  on  our  English  shores  we  find  small  examples 
of  a  still  more  wonderful  race,  whose  history  in  the 
warm  depths  of  the  Mediterranean  and  amidst  the 
stormy  surge  of  the  Pacific  is  like  a  fairy  poem.  Who 
has  not  heard  of  the  groves  of  lovely  red  coral  seen 
through  the  clear  blue  waters  off  the  coasts  of  Corsica 
and  Sardinia  ;  or  read  of  those  islands  which  are  built 
in  the  midst  of  the  stormy  Pacific  by  the  delicate 
coral  animal  ?  There,  in  the  midst  of  violent  foam- 
ing breakers,  strong  circular  stony  reefs,  crowned  with 
delicate  white  sand  and  shaded  by  the  cocoa-nut 
palm,  enclose  those  peaceful  lagoons  where 

"  Life  in  rare  and  beautiful  forms 
Is  sporting  amid  the  bowers  of  stone, 
And  is  safe  when  the  wrathful  spirit  of  storrm 
Has  made  the  top  of  the  waves  his  own." 

And  the  coral-animal  which  builds  alike  the-  blender 
pink  stem  of  the  coral  ornament,  and  whole  islands 
of  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  is  a  lasso-thrower. 

In  the  Mediterranean  he  is  a  delicate  dainty 
being,  beginning  life  as  a  little  jelly-body  thrown  out 
of  the  mouth  of  a  pure  white  polyp  growing  out  of  a 
red  coral  branch.  This  jelly-body  soon  settles  down 
on  the  sea-bottom  (a,  Fig.  27),  and  spreading  out  its 


72  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

tentacles  (b,  Fig.  27)  to  feed,  takes  carbonate  of  lime 
from  the  water,  and  colouring  it,  we  scarcely  know  how, 
begins  to  build  with  it  red  spikes  or  spicules  into  its 
jelly  flesh  ;  only  into  its  mouth  and  stomach  it  lays  no 
spicules  but  leaves  them  soft  and  white.  Then  after 
a  while  it  begins  to  throw  off  buds,  as  we  have  seen 
the  hydra  do  and  some  anemones,  and  each  of  these 

Fig.  27. 


Growth  of  Red  Coral.* — After  Lacaze-Dutkiers. 
a,  A  young  coral  settling  down,    b,  The  same  putting  out  its  tentacles. 
c,  The  same  gradually  forming  new  mouths,     d,  A  coral  branch  with 
numerous  mouths. 

buds  remains  on  the  stem  pure  and  white,  while  the 
jelly,  full  of  red  spicules,  joins  them  all  together 
(c,  Fig.  27).  And  then  as  more  and  more  buds  are 
formed  and  the  branches  lengthen  out  the  young 
coral  becomes  a  coral-tree  (d,  Fig.  27),  with  all  its 
buds  or  polypes  spread  out  like  dazzling  pure  white 
flowers,  each  with  its  eight  rays  expanded  over  the 

*  Corc.Uum  nibrnm. 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS. 


73 


red  jelly.  Meanwhile  in  the  middle  of  the  stem  the 
spicules  become  pressed  together  and  form  a  solid 
red  rod  (a,  Fig.  28),  supporting  the  whole  animal-tree; 
and  this  red  rod,  the  scaffolding  of  the  living  lasso- 
throwing  coral-animal,  is  all  that  remains  after  it  is 
dead  to  be  polished  for  us  to  wear. 

All  round  the  coasts  of  South  Italy  these  beautiful 
coral-animals  grow  and  feed.     A  warm  sea  and  suffi- 

Fig.  28. 


A  section  of  a  piece  of  Red  Coral. — Lacaze-Dutkiers. 
a,  Solid  red  rod  in  the  centre,     b,  One  of  the  white  jelly  mouths 
with  its  tentacles  drawn  in.     c,  Canals  round  the  rod.     d,  Red  spicules 
(magnified)  which  are  buried  in  the  flesh  e.     e,  Soft  flesh  of  the  coral 
coloured  by  the  red  spicules  and  fed  by  the  white  mouths  b, 

cient  water  over  their  heads  is  all  they  ask,  in  order 
to  flourish  happily  and  send  out  plenty  of  young  ones 
to  keep  up  the  colony ;  and  though  they  have  their 
enemies  in  the  seaworms,  and  in  the  fish  which  nibble 
at  their  tender  flesh,  yet,  by  means  of  their  spicules, 
they  hold  their  own,  while  with  their  lassos  they  catch 
their  prey. 


74 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig.  29. 


A   far   hardier   and    more    sturdy  animal    is   the 
builder  of  the  white  coral,  as  he  stands  out  in  the 

midst  of  the  wild  Pa- 
cific, the  stormy  sea 
dashing  against  his 
home,  while  he  has 
nothing  but  the  power 
of  life  and  growth 
to  bring  against  it. 
Nevertheless,  he  not 
only  lives,  but  builds 
strong  stony  barriers, 
which  shut  out  the  rest- 
less waves,  and  enclose 
calm,still  salt  lagoons, 
in  whose  depths  more 
delicate  corals  can 
nestle  and  flourish. 

To  understand  how 
the  white  coral  builds 
its  skeleton  we  must 
look  back  to  the  sea- 
anemone,  and  to  the 
partitions  in  the  wall 
of  its  body  (p.  67). 
The  white  coral  is  in 
fact  a  group  of  sea- 
anemones  all  growing  together,  and  throwing  out 
buds  which  remain  on  the  stem,  and  each  bud,  as  it 
takes  the  carbonate  of  lime  out  of  the  water,  builds 
it  up  in  solid  layers  between  those  partitions  in  its 
body.  If  you  can  find  at  the  sea-side  the  little  Devon- 
shire cup-coral  (Fig.  30),  which  is  a  single  coral  of  this 


Piece  of  White  Coral. 
(Madrepore.) 


THE  LASSO-THROWERS.  75 

kind,  you  will  be  able  to  see  clearly  these  solid  par- 
titions entirely  enclosing  the  body.  In  this  way  the 
animal  is  fairly  shut  in,  only  the  stomach  with  its 
mouth  and  tentacles  remaining  free  ;  and  as  it  buds 
and  buds,  feeding  greedily  with  its  lassos,  and  laying 
down  lime  particle  by  particle  out  of  the  restless 
sea,  it  builds  a  firm  skeleton,  sometimes  branched 

(see  Fig.  29),  some- 
Fig.  30. 
times    solid,   as    in 

the  brain  -  coral, 
according  to  the 
way  in  which  the 
buds  are  given  off 
one  from  the  other. 
And  when  the 
animal  dies,  in- 
stead of  leaving 
only  a  smooth  stem 
behind,  it  leaves  Devonshire  Cup-Coral.* — From  Johnston. 
each  little  CUp  of  a,  Living  animal,  b,  Coral  skeleton, 

lime    in   the   shape  f  owins the  st°7  711,8  which. Ae  body  lays 
r      down  between  the  fleshy  partitions. 

of  its  own  body. 

How  these  corals  have  lived  and  grown  for  ages 
in  the  midst  of  the  stormy  Pacific,  while  the  sinking 
bed  of  the  sea  carried  down  the  dead  coral  as  a  solid 
wall,  is  a  story  which  belongs  to  geology.  Here  we 
have  only  to  picture  the  living  animal,  tiny  and  tender, 
yet  strong  in  its  two  great  powers — the  power  of 
catching  and  feeding  on  the  creatures  of  the  sea,  and 
the  power  of  building  a  solid  skeleton  with  the  grains 
of  lime.  In  this  way  day  by  day,  stretching  out 
their  tender  arms  and  flinging  their  lassos  by  millions 

*  Caryophyllntm  Smitliii. 


76  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  millions  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  Pacific,  the 
coral  animals  live  and  grow.  In  the  midst  of  winds 
and  storms  they  struggle  on,  the  rough  and  strong 
builders  without,  in  the  open  ocean,  the  more  tender 
and  delicate  ones,  with  their  bright  coloured  orange, 
crimson,  scarlet,  and  purple  tentacles,  within  the  shel- 
tered lagoons ;  they  all  make  good  use  of  the  weapons 
with  which  life  provides  them,  and  flourish  in  countless 
numbers,  enjoying  the  warmth  of  the  tropical  sea,  and 
laying  the  foundation  of  solid  rocks  for  ages  to  come. 
This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  our  brief  sketch  of 
the  lasso-throwers,  of  which  the  sea  is  so  full.  Though 
we  have  scarcely  been  able  to  glance  even  at  the 
leading  forms,  we  can  understand  how  they  are  able 
to  maintain  their  ground  in  the  struggle  for  life. 
One  and  all,  they  sweep  the  waters  with  their  tiny 
arms,  and  whether  as  animal -trees,  jelly-fish,  ane- 
mones, or  corals,  multiply  in  great  numbers,  and  fill 
the  sea  with  beautiful  active  life.  If  only  as  food 
for  other  animals,  they  have  their  great  use  in  the 
world,  for  the  huge  whale  is  greatly  dependent  for  his 
nourishment  upon  the  shoals  of  jelly-fish  which  throng 
the  Arctic  ocean,  and  many  shell-fish  and  other  sea 
animals  feed  upon  the  anemones  and  delicate  polypes 
on  the  sea-bottom.  But  beyond  their  use  to  others, 
is  the  great  fact  that  they  live  and  flourish  themselves ; 
like  the  rest  of  Life's  children,  they  crowd  into  the 
world,  and  as  we  watch  th^m  during  their  brief  career, 
we  cannot  but  think  that  there  is  enjoyment  in  these 
fragile  existences,  as  they  open  out  so  freely  and 
eagerly  in  the  depths  of  the  quiet  ocean  ;  and  that 
from  them,  too,  rises  the  silent  hymn  of  praise  for  the 
gift  of  life,  even  if  it  have  its  struggles  and  its  dangers. 


HOW  STAR- FISH  WALK,  ETC. 


77 


CHAPTER    V. 


HOW  STAR-FISH  WALK  AND  SEA-URCHINS  GROW. 

"  O,  what  an  endlesse  worke  have  I  in  hand, 

To  count  the  sea's  abundant  progeny, 

Whose  fruitfull  seede  farre  passeth  those  in  land, 

And  also  those  which  wonne  in  th'  azure  sky  ! 

For  much  more  eath  to  tell  the  starres  on  hy, 

All  be  they  endlesse  seeme  in  estimation, 

Then  to  recount  the  sea's  posterity, 

So  fertile  be  the  floods  in  generation, 
So  huge  their  numbers,  and  so  numberlesse  their  nation." 

SPENSER. 


NCE  upon  a  time,  in  a  quiet 
sea-bay  on  the  south  shores  of 
Great  Britain,  five  curious  little 
oval  jelly  bodies  were  swimming 
about   by  their   jelly-lashes   in 
the  depths  of  the  smooth  water. 
They    had    one    and    all    been 
/    hatched  from  eggs  not  long  be- 
fore, and  their  business  and  duty 
in  life  was  to  grow  up  into  some 
form  in  which  they  could  gain  their 
living  and  protect  themselves  from 
harm.. 

As  each  one  came  from  a  parent 
of  a  different  shape  and  character,  it  was  natural  that 
they  should  follow  different  roads,  although  they  all 
worked  much  upon  the  same  general  plan  ;  and  though 
they  were  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely  visible,  they  soon 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig-  31- 


began  to  put  on  each  their  own  peculiar  shape. 
No.  I  had  not  swum  about  for  many  hours  before 
some  lime-plates  began  to  form  in  his  body,  arrang- 
ing themselves  in  the  shape  of  a  cup  (a,  A,  Fig  31), 
and  below  these  other  and  smaller  plates  took  up 
the  form  of  a  stalk  {b}. 
This  went  on  for  several 
days,  while  the  jelly-body 
fed  and  swam  about  like 
any  other  living  animal  ; 
but  it  proved  after  all  to 
be  only  the  cradle  of  the 
real  creature,  for  after  a 
time  the  jelly-body  began 
to  shrink  up,  and  the 
whole  sank  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  and  a  strong 
lime-plate  (<:)  was  formed 
which  fastened  the  lime- 

A,  The  jelly -animal  swimming   Stalk    to    the    rock,   where 
by  its  lashes     «    The  cup.     b,  The    the         anjmal        remained 
stem,     c,  The   fixing  plate  of  the 

young  animal  forming  within.  fixed,      looking       like       a 

B,  The  fixed  animal  from  which  stOny  plant,  and  all  that 

the   Feather -Star  (Fig.    38)   after-  .        .         ,       ,          .   „ 

wards  breaks  off.  remained     of    the    jelly 

was   a  thin    film   spread 

over  the  stem  and  cup.  The  jelly-animal  had  in 
fact  become  transformed  into  a  Crinoid  or  Stone- 
Lily,  about  half-an-inch  high,  which  soon  put  out 
jointed  arms'  from  its  cup  and  fed  in  the  water,  and 
at  this  stage  was  a  miniature  copy  of  the  well-known 
Medusa's  Head,f  which  grows  in  the  deep  seas,  and 

*  These  five  figures,  31  to  35,  are  all  much  magnified, 
t  Pentacrimis  caput-medusoe. 


The  infancy  of  a  Feather- Star.' 
Williamson. 


THE  BABY  BRITTLE-STAR. 


79 


of  those  still  larger  Encrinites  or  Stone-Lilies,  often 
more  than  five  feet  long,  which  we  find  fossil  in  the 
solid  rocks  of  the  earth,  and  which,  though  they  look 
like  the  remains  of  stony  plants  were  once  true  ani- 
mals, feeding  in  the  seas  of  ages  long  past  by  whirling 
the  tiny  sea-animals  into  the  centre  of  the  cup  where 
their  mouth  lay  turned  upwards  to  the  water. 

No.  2  did  not  advance  so  fast,  his  jelly  body  had 
been  from  the  beginning  supported  upon  eight  thin 

Fig.  32. 


The  infancy  of  the  Brittle  Star-fish. — Miiller. 

A,  The  jelly-animal  swimming  and  feeding  while  the   Star-fish  b, 
with  its  rays  c,  is  forming  inside  it. 

B,  The  young  Brittle  Star-fish  which  has  swallowed  the  jelly  and 
settled  down  upon  the  rock. 

lime  rods  (a  a,  Fig.  3  2),  causing  him  to  swim  along 
somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid  on  legs,  and  he 
continued  to  float  and  feed  in  this  shape  for  a 
considerable  time.  Meanwhile,  just  within  his  mouth 
some  small  cells  appeared  which  gradually  .formed 
themselves  into  a  round  disc.  By  and  by  it  was 
clear  that  a  trellis-work  of  lime  was  forming  over  this 
disc  (b,  Fig.  32),  and  five  tiny  stony  arms  (c}  began 
to  grow  out  of  it  like  the  rays  of  a  star.  Still,  how- 
ever, the  jelly- animal  continued  to  feed  through  its 


8o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

jelly  mouth  like  any  other  living  being.  Then  after 
a  time,  during  which  there  was  built  up  within  the 
disc  a  stomach,  a  mouth,  and  a  set  of  tubes  for  taking 
in  water,  the  disc  with  its  sprouting  arms  all  at  once 
dropped  off  its  rods  and  swallowed  up  the  jelly-body, 
drawing  it  in  till  only  a  thin  film  was  left  over  the 
stony  star.  Then,  after  swimming  about  for  a  little 
time,  it  settled  down  upon  the  rock  and  wriggled 
about,  a  tiny  Brittle  Star-Fish  (B,  Fig.  32). 


Infancy  of  the  common  Star-fish. — Rymer  Jones. 

A,  Jelly-animal  swimming  about  and  the  star-fish  forming  within  it. 
A',  The  star-fish  settling  down.     B,  The  same  assuming  its  true  shape. 

No.  3  followed  much  the  same  course  as  No.  2, 
except  that  his  jelly-body  had  no  rods  in  it,  but 
took  a  number  of  curious  shapes  and  swam  about 
briskly,  while  within  was  formed  a  young  creature 
with  a  network  of  lime  over  his  back  (A,  Fig.  33),  and 
a  number  of  small  soft  transparent  tubes  under  his 
body.  After  a  time  the  whole  fell  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  and  this  little  creature  also  swallowed  his  jelly 
body,  and  becoming  a  tiny  yellow  rosette  with  five 
knobs  sticking  out  of  it,  glided  quickly  away  over 
the  rocks,  carried  along  by  the  little  tubes  under  the 


THE  BABY  SEA  -  URCHIN. 


81 


rosette.  It  went  on  growing  for  two  or  three  years, 
lengthening  the-  five  knobs  into  pointed  rays,  and 
became  the  common  Five- Fingered  Star-fish. 

No.  4  took  a  different  road  from  any  of  the  three 


Fig.  34- 


that  had  gone  before  him.  He 
too  had  long  thin  rods  in  his 
body,  all  pointing  one  way, 
so  that  his  body  looked  like 
a  painter's  easel,  and  at  the  top 
of  the  easel  a  number  of  fine 
plates  of  lime  began  to  form 
in  the  shape  of  a  tiny  round 
box  (b,  Fig.  3  4  A)  with  prickles 
all  over  it ;  and  by  and  by  this 
box  sucked  up  the  jelly-body, 
leaving  only  a  thin  film  over  its 
shell,  and  sinking  to  the  bottom 
a  tiny  Sea-Urchin,  burrowed 
a  hole  for  itself  in  the  sand. 

Lastly,  No.  5  did  not  form 
anything  solid  within  its  jelly- 
body,  but  growing  a  stomach 
and  feet,  and  other  soft  parts, 
stretched  itself  out  into  the 

Shape    Of    a    sausage,    put    OUt    .     A,  The  jelly-animal  with 
,       -,.,  ,  ,    its  lime-rods  a  a,  swimming 

some  leaf-like  tentacles  round  about  and  feeding  while  the 

its  mouth  (B,  Fig.  35),  and  lay-    tiny  sea-urchin  *,  is  forming 

ing    down    some     spikes     of  ™£-  *T**™«-- 

lime   in    its    skin,   became    a 

little  worm -like   creature  with   tiny   tubes  for  feet, 

the   young  of  the    Sca-Ciicumber>\   and  soon   found 


Infancy  of  a  Sea-Urchin.* 
Mutter. 


*  Echinus. 


t  Holothuriadae. 


82 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig-  35- 


some  crack  in  the   rock  in  which   to   hide  its  soft 

body. 

These  five  animals  —  the  stone-lily,  the  brittle-star, 

the  common   star-fish,  the  sea-urchin,  and  the  sea- 

cucumber,  —  which  grow  up  so  curiously,  each  within 

an  active  feeding 
jelly  being,*  are 
the  five  types  of  the 
"  Prickly-skinned" 
animals  t  which 
form  the  third 
division  of  the 
animal  kingdom  ; 
and  the  history 
of  their  lives  will 
give  us  a  very  fair 
idea  of  the  imple- 
ments and  wea- 


Infancy  of  a  Sea-Cucumber 
A,  A  jelly-animal  swimming  and  feeding 


,      j-  .   .  .         r 

a,  small  sea-cucumber  forming  inside.      B,     division,      and     of 
The  young  sea-cucumber  with  the  leaf-like    the  peculiar  walk- 

lubffeet  r°Und  US  m°Uth'  Walking  °n  hS   in&     apparatus 

which  belongs  al- 
most exclusively  to  this  branch  of  life's  children. 

Passing  by,  for  a  moment,  forms  I  and  2,  which 
we  shall  understand  better  presently,  let  us  first  visit 
the  common  star-fish  after  his  arms  are  full  grown, 
as  we  sometimes  find  him  on  the  sand  of  the  sea- 
shore thrown  up  by  the  waves.  A  strange  and 

*  The  jelly  animal  does  not  always  swim  about  in  the  water 
while  forming  its  future  body.  Some  star-fishes  and  sea-urchins  carry 
their  young  in  a  kind  of  pouch  or  tent  till  they  have  taken  shape. 

t  Echinodermata,  or  hedgehog-skinned. 


HOW  STAR-FISH  WALK.  83 

weird  life  he  leads,  clinging  to  the  wet  roofs  and  sides 
of  caverns,  or  hiding  under  large  stones,  or  wandering 
over  the  sand  at  low  tide  with  the  water  rippling 
gently  over  his  body :  the  sea  must  appear  to  him 
in  a  very  different  light  from  what  it  does  to  the 
coral-builders  or  jelly-fish,  as  they  wave  about  their 
soft  tentacles  and  bathe  them  in  the  element  they 
love. 

For  the  real  interest  of  the  star-fish  is  not  in  the 
sea  above,  but  in  the  solid  ground  below.  He  cares 
for  the  water  only  that  he  may  get  oxygen  out  of  it 
to  breathe,  for  though  he  can  swim  when  it  is  neces- 
sary, yet  he  is  really  a  creeping  animal,  and  loves  to 
climb  over  the  rocks,  or  poke  about  the  sandy  bottom 
with  his  mouth  down  to  the  ground,  feeding  on  mus- 
sels and  other  shell-fish  wherever  he  can  find  them. 

No  ghost  could  glide  more  smoothly  or  with  less 
noise  than  he  does  as  he  wanders  dreamily  along, 
and  when  he  comes  to  a  wall  of  rock  or  a  hollow  in 
the  sand  he  does  not  avoid  them,  but  bends  his  body 
over  the  one  or  slides  down  the  other,  hugging  the 
ground  closely  as  he  goes.  And  yet  the  machinery 
by  which  he  moves  is  nowhere  to  be  seen,  nor  will 
you  be  able  to  guess  how  it  works,  till  you  pick  up  the 
first  living  star-fish  left  upon  the  shore  as  the  tide 
goes  down,  and  put  it  into  a  glass  pan  or  jar  of  salt 
water.  Then  you  will  be  able  to  watch  this  curious 
movement  through  the  glass.  At  first  he  will  lie 
helplessly  at  the  bottom,  but  very  soon,  although  as 
you  look  down  upon  him  you  will  not  see  any  special 
part  move,  the  whole  body  will  begin  to  glide  slowly 
along.  Now  lift  the  jar  and  look  at  the  under  part 
of  the  body.  You  will  see  hundreds  of  tiny  trans- 
5 


84 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


parent  tubes  moving  in  the  groove  under  each  of  his 
five  rays  (A,  Fig.  36,  and  1 1,  Fig.  37).  The  whole  of 
the  under  part  of  his  body  will  be  waving  like  a  field 
of  corn,  as  each  tube-foot  in  its  turn  is  stretched  out, 
bent  forward,  and  fastened  to  the  glass.  Then  after 
drawing  the  body  a  little  on,  it  will  loosen  again  and 
collapse  into  a  mere  knob,  while  another  will  lengthen 
out  and  take  a  hold.  In  this  way,  as  tube  after  tube 
draws  it  forwards,  the  body  of  the  star-fish  will  be 

Fig.  36. 


A,    The  common  five-fingered  Star-fish.*      The  dark  round  spot 
between  the  lower  rays  is  the  water-hole.     B,  The  Brittle  Star-fish,  t 

carried  easily  along  the  bottom  or  up  the  sides  of  the 
glass  like  a  canopy  resting  upon  the  heads  of  more 
than  two  thousand  bearers. 

And  now  if  you  look  in  the  centre  of  the  under 

part  of  his  body  you  will  see  a  small  opening  with 

the  skin  puckered  up  round  it.     This  is  his  mouth 

(m,  Fig.  37),  and  if  ycu  place  a  small  mussel  or  lim- 

*  Uraster  rubens.  f  Ophiocoma  bellis. 


HOW  STAR-FISH  WALK.  85 

pet  against  the  glass  on  his  road  you  will  see  a  curious 
sight.  He  will  glide  gently  over  it  as  though  it  were 
a  mere  stone,  till  his  mouth  is  just  above  it,  then  the 
middle  of  the  body  will  rise  a  little,  and  the  feet  all 
round  the  mouth  fixing  themselves  firmly  to  the 
mussel  will  draw  it  into  the  opening,  where  it  will 
remain  till  all  its  soft  body  is  sucked  out,  and  then 
the  empty  shell  will  return. 

If,  however,  the  shell-fish  is  too  large  to  go  into 
the  mouth,  the  star-fish  will  apply  its  lips  to  it  and 
often  push  its  stomach-bag  (S,  Fig.  37)  out  at  the 
opening  and  half  cover  its  victim,  and  after  a  time 
when  it  draws  back,  the  soft  animal  will  be  gone  and 
only  the  shell  remain. 

Fig.  37- 

,          A          /      /P  B/P 

^a^SAgAUttbA^*^,     /        yr 


Section  of  the  centre  and  one  ray  of  a  Star-fish. — Rymer  Jones. 

A,  The  central  body.  S,  The  stomach,  m,  The  mouth,  h,  Per- 
forated hole  where  water  is  taken  in.  r,  Ring  round  the  centre  through 
which  the  water  passes  to  the  feet.  B,  The  ray.  sf,  Spines  set  in  the 
leathery  coat,  c,  The  snapping  claws,  e,  Eye  at  end  of  the  ray.  1 1, 
Tube  feet.  11  v,  Vesicles  or  waterbags  supplying  the  tube  feet  with 
water,  i,  Liver. 

The  star-fish  then  is  a  kind  of  walking  stomach, 
borne  along  by  hundreds  of  tiny  feet  ceaselessly 
moving  in  each  of  its  five  rays,  and  it  is  the  working 
of  these  feet  which  we  must  now  explain.  To  picture 
to  yourself  the  inside  of  a  star-fish,  imagine  a  round 
central  dome -covered  hall  (A,  Fig.  37),  in  the  floor 


86  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

of  which  is  a  trap -door  m  (the  mouth),  and  out  of 
which  open  five  stately  arched  corridors,  one  of  which 
is  shown  in  Fig.  37,  which  begin  as  lofty  galleries 
and  end  in  a  point  where  a  tiny  window  e  vs.  set. 
The  roof  and  floor  of  the  corridors  are  built  of  deli- 
cate white  columns  and  arches  of  lime,  joined  by  soft 
ligaments,  while  the  walls  are  inlaid  with  star-like 
plates,  and  within  the  dome,  and  stretching  right 
out  into  each  corridor,  lies  the  soft  body  of  the  ani- 
mal (S,  z,  Fig.  37),  with  its  digestive  organs.  The 
delicate  telegraph  of  nerves,  and  the  water-canal, 
starting  from  the  central  hall,  pass  like  the  wires 
and  pipes  of  our  houses  under  the  floor  of  each  cor- 
ridor, while  the  numberless  little  water-bags  which 
move  the  regiment  of  feet  pierce  the  floor,  and  lie  in 
the  corridor  itself. 

And  now,  how  does  this  apparatus  work  ?  Remem- 
bering as  we  do  that  the  anemone  spreads  out  its 
tentacles  by  filling  them  with  water,  we  shall  expect 
that  something  of  fhis  kind  also  happens  here,  only 
that  we  require  besides  to  explain  how  the  feet  cling 
so  firmly  to  the  ground,  for  in  some  cases  they  will 
even  break  off  from  the  body  sooner  than  release 
their  hold. 

If  you  look  carefully  at  the  back  of  a  starfish 
you  will  find  a  little  round  spot  (see  A,  Fig.  36,  and 
/i,  Fig.  37)  lying  at  one  side  in  the  angle  between 
two  of  the  rays.  This  spot  is  a  little  plate  of  lime 
pierced  with  fine  holes  just  like  the  rose  of  a  water- 
ing-pot, and  through  it  sea-water  carefully  filtered 
passes  down  a  tube  into  a  hollow  ring  (r)  round  the 
animal's  mouth,  and  this  ring  ope'ns  again  into  canals 
which  pass  along  under  each  of  the  rays.  Here  then 


HOW  STAR-FISH  WALK.  87 

we  have  a  regular  water-supply  taken  in  at  the  porous 
plate  and  carried  along  all  the  five  rays.  But  we 
want  next  a  separate  cistern  for  each  tube-foot,  for 
we  have  seen  that  they  move  separately,  and  so  can- 
not all  be  filled  with  water  at  the  same  time.  These 
separate  cisterns  we  find  in  a  number  of  elastic  bags 
or  vesicles  (v  v,  Fig.  3  7)  placed  along  the  water-canals, 
and  opening  into  them  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  into  the  tube-feet.  Now  when  water  is  taken 
in  at  the  grating  h  above"*  the  canals  are  filled,  and 
they  fill  the  vesicles,  and  each  vesicle  is  able  to  con- 
tract and  force  its  water  down  into  its  own  foot-tube, 
thus  stretching  it  out.  Then  the  foot-tube  while 
stretched  at  full  length  can,  by  drawing  in  its  walls  a 
little,  force  some  water  back,  and  so  draw  up  the 
centre  of  the  round  cushion  at  the  end  of  its  tube, 
making  a  sucker  just  as  a  schoolboy  does  with  wet 
leather  on  a  pavement ;  then  the  foot  holds  fast. 
Lastly,  by  drawing  up  the  muscles  which  run  down 
the  tube,  the  body  is  drawn  on,  the  sucker  released, 
and  the  foot  pulled  back  to  begin  again. 

This  is  how  the  star-fish  walks,  and  when  we  re- 
member how  many  hundreds  of  feet  he  has,  how 
firmly  each  one  holds,  and  how  slightly  it  moves,  we 
cease  to  wonder  that  he  glides  so  smoothly  and  clings 
so  firmly  to  the  rock.  He  is  a  greedy  creature,  whose 
whole  care  is  his  stomach,  and  he  will  eat  any  animal 
food  he  can  find,  from  small  crabs,  shell-fish,  and 
other  sea-creatures,  to  mere  garbage  and  decaying 
matter,  so  that  he  is  very  useful  as  a  scavenger  of  the 
sea.  He  in  his  turn  is  eaten  by  the  cod,  the  haddock, 
and  other  fish,  but  he  is  better  protected  from  smaller 

This  grating  is  called  the  Madreporiform  tubercle. 


88  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

enemies  than  would  appear  at  first  sight.  His  thick 
skin  contains  a  network  of  hard  scales  which  will 
turn  the  edge  of  a  knife  if  you  try  to  cut  it,  while 
pointed  spines  (j/)  stand  in  ridges  on  his  back,  and 
on  the  sides  of  the  rays,  thus  protecting  the  tube-feet. 
But  the  most  curious  weapons  he  possesses  are  a 
number  of  minute  claws,  like  birds'  beaks  mounted 
on  stalks  (V,  Fig.  37),  which  stand  round  his  spines, 
and  twist  and  snap  continually  as  long  as  he  is 
alive.  The  only  use  that  has  yet  been  found  for 
these  curious  weapons  is  to  clear  the  skin  of  the 
star-fish  from  the  seaweeds  and  small  animals  which 
would  certainly  fix  themselves  on  such  a  sluggish 
animal  if  they  were  not  picked  off.  We  shall  see 
presently  in  the  sea-urchin  that  they  are  sometimes 
very  active  in  this  work. 

And  now  as  the  star-fish  plods  on  his  way  along  the 
sea-bottom,  thinking  only  of  the  creatures  over  which 
he  can  spread  his  capacious  mouth,  what  has  he  to 
tell  him  of  coming  danger  ?  How  shall  he  be  warned 
if  the  shadow  of  an  enemy  is  passing  over  him,  or  if 
he  is  venturing  too  rashly  into  the  broad  sunlight 
where  his  bright  colours  might  attract  dangerous 
attention  ?  If  you  notice  any  star-fish  when  it  is 
alarmed  or  finds  itself  in  strange  quarters,  you  will 
see  it  curl  up  the  tips  of  its  rays,  and  there  under 
the  point  of  each  ray  (e,  Fig.  37)  may  be  seen  with  a 
magnifying  glass  a  thick  red  spot  seated  on  the  ex- 
tremity of  a  nerve,  and  having  in  it  as  many  as  from 
100  to  200  crystal  lenses  surrounded  by  red  cells."* 
Here  then  we  have  a  far  better  eye  than  that  which 
we  found  in  the  jelly-fish,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that 

*  Haeckel,  1860. 


THE  ROSY  FEATHER-STAR.  89 

the  star-fish  is  so  quick  in  finding  food,  or  enrages  the 
fishermen  by  discovering  the  bait  which  they  put  for 
other  animals,  for  it  turns  out  that  this  heavy,  stupid- 
looking  animal  is  much  more  wide-awake  than  he 
appears.  In  many  cases  a  soft  lid  or  feeler  hangs 
over  the  eye-spot,  giving  to  it  a  curiously  intelligent 
look,  and  Professor  Forbes  relates  how  once  when  a 
beautifully  delicate  star-fish  called  the  Lingthorn  fell 
to  pieces  as  he  tried  to  lift  it  out  of  the  water,  this  lid 
at  the  end  of  one  of  the  arms  "opened  and  closed  with 
something  exceedingly  like  a  wink  of  derision." 

Our  first  walking  animal  then  is  by  no  means  a  poor 
or  feeble  creature  ;  he  has  chain-armour  woven  into  his 
leathery  skin,  with  sharp  spikes  and  snapping  claws  to 
protect  him,  a  good  digestion  and  a  capacious  mouth 
to  feed  his  greedy  stomach,  a  good  array  of  nerves, 
quick  feeling  and  eyesight,  together  with  a  wonderful 
apparatus  for  moving  over  the  ground  ;  and  when  we 
add  to  this  that  if  he  loses  any  of  his  rays  he  can 
close  over  the  wound  and  grow  a  new  limb,  we  see 
that  his  powers  of  living  satisfactorily  are  very  great. 

We  must  not  suppose,  however,  that  the  curious 
walking  apparatus  of  the  star-fish  is  perfect  in  all  his 
relations,  or  that  they  all  walk  by  means  of  suckers, 
any  more  than  all  sponge-animals  can  build  a  toilet 
sponge,  or  all  slime -animals  make  fine  chambered 
shells.  The  rosy  feather-star  for  example  (Fig.  3  8),  as 
it  sits  clasping  the  rock  or  a  bunch  of  sea-weed,  with 
the  fine  strong  tendrils  which  grow  out  of  its  back, 
waving  its  arms  like  a  group  of  brilliant  red  plumes 
spotted  with  bright  yellow,  has  no  need  to  use  any 
feet-tubes,  though  it  is  a  star-fish,  and  those  which 
it  has,  probably  serve  merely  as  a  help  in  breathing. 


90  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

You  will  at  first  be  puzzled  to  think  how  this 
feather-like  fixed  animal  can  be  a  star-fish  at  all,  but  if 
you  examine  it  carefully,  you  will  find  that  it  is  indeed 
one,  only  turned  upside  down.  Its  back,  which  is 
held  down  to  the  rock  by  some  claws  (c)  which  grow 
upon  it,  forms  a  cup  in  which  lie  the  soft  parts  of  its 

Fig.  38- 


The  life  of  the  Feather- Star. 

A,  Young  of  the  Feather-Star  before  it  has  separated  from  its  stem. 
B,  Full-grown  Feather-Star.*     r,  Rays,     c,  Claws,     m,  Mouth. 

body,  with  a  mouth  (m),  in  the  middle,  of  course 
turned  upwards,  and  surrounded  by  tentacles.  Its 
five  arms  have  divided  each  into  two,  making  ten 
stony  jointed  rays  (r),  and  on  these  a  number  of 
finer  jointed  filaments  give  the  appearance  of  feathers. 
Within  a  groove  of  each  arm  lie  the  feet-tubes,  but  they 
have  no  suckers,  for  the  feather-star  rarely  walks,  and 
then  only  wriggles  in  a  clumsy  manner,  something 

*  Antedon  (Comattila)  rosacea. 


THE  BRITTLE  STAR.  91 

like  a  brittle-star.  It  usually  remains  anchored,  feed- 
ing on  the  minute  beings  in  the  water,  which  it  drives 
into  its  mouth  by  hundreds  of  cilia  or  jelly-lashes 
which  line  the  grooves  of  the  arms. 

It  does  not  care  to  move  at  any  time,  though  it 
can  swim  gracefully  through  the  water  when  disturbed 
from  its  hold.  But  in  its  infancy  it  was  not  even 
free  to  do  this,  for  the  lovely  feather-star  is  nothing 
more  than  the  cup  of  the  little  stone-lily  (A,  Fig.  38 
and  Fig.  31),  which  has  broken  from  its  stem  and 
grown  up  into  a  free  animal.  In  the  early  spring  you 
may  find  it  in  its  infant  state  in  the  quiet  bays  of  our 
west  coast  or  of  Ireland,  like  a  white  or  yellow  stony 
flower,  growing  on  fronds  of  seaweed,  or  on  small  stony 
corals.  Its  stem  of  jointed  plates  is  covered  with  a 
film  of  living  matter,  and  its  cup  has  the  stony  threads 
hanging  down  from  it,  which  afterwards  serve  as 
claws  to  hold  it  to  the  rock.  In  the  autumn  you  will 
find  it  so  no  more.  The  cup  (a,  Fig.  31,  p.  78), 
floating  off  its  stem  (£)  will  have  emancipated  itself 
from  the  race  of  fixed  stone-lilies,  and  joined  the 
free  star-fish,  thus  forming  a  curious  link  between 
these  two  groups  of  animals.  It  still,  however,  keeps 
much  of  its  old  habits,  and  while  it  can  swim  grace- 
fully from  place  to  place,  loves  better  to  cling  to  the 
nearest  rock  or  weed,  feeding  upside  down  as  com- 
pared to  its  new  companions,  and  waving  its  deep 
red  plumes,  a  harmless  thing  of  beauty. 

Not  so,  the  brittle-star  (B,  Fig.  36),  which,  as  we 
saw  in  Fig.  32,  was  a  free  being  from  the  first,  and  is 
as  voracious  as  the  common  star-fish,  and  much  more 
active.  In  some  ways,  however,  it  is  like  the  feather- 
star,  for  it  has  strong  jointed  suckerless  arms  and 


92  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

feet,  which  it  never  uses  for  walking,  although  it 
fills  them  through  a  porous  plate  like  the  star-fish. 
Its  soft  body  too  is  all  contained  within  the  round 
cup  in  the  centre,  and  its  arms  do  not  open  out  of 
it  as  in  the  star-fish,  but  are  joined  on  ;  and  this  may 
partly  explain  why  it  so  often  flings  its  arms  into  a 
hundred  pieces  when  frightened  ;  for  it  can  afford  to 
part  with  them,  and  can  soon  form  them  again. 

As  tools  and  weapons,  however,  they  are  most 
useful,  and  the  reason  why  the  brittle-star  does  not 
use  its  tubes  as  feet  is  that  its  arms  are  quite 
sufficient  to  carry  it  along.  Made  of  a  number 
of  small  plates  joined  together  by  elastic  muscles, 
and  fringed  with  hooks  and  spines,  these  stony  rays 
serve  both  as  walking  and  feeding  apparatus.  The 
animal  twists  them  to  and  fro  in  all  manner  of 
contortions,  and  in  this  way  is  carried  over  the  rocks 
at  a  surprising  pace,  while  it  can  bury  itself  in  the 
sand  and  mud  with  the  greatest  ease,  or  wriggle  into 
the  smallest  crevices  if  it  fears  to  be  attacked. 

If  the  star-fish  is  remarkable  for  its  smooth  gliding 
motion,  the  brittle-star  is  the  prince  of  wrigglers,  and 
must  escape  many  dangers  by  its  bewildering  activity. 
Indeed,  we  may  almost  fancy  that  its  enemies  may 
be  as  startled  at  its  wild  contortions  as  the  fishermen 
were  who  dredged  the  brittle-stars  up  for  Professor  Ed- 
ward Forbes,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  throw  them 
back,  saying,  "  the  things  weren't  altogether  right ! " 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  little  doubt  that  they 
use  their  arms  to  carry  food  to  the  mouth,  and  one 
of  this  family  called  the  "  Basket-Fish,"  *  has  its  rays 
so  branched  and  curled  that  they  interlace,  forming 

*  Shown  in  the  left-hand  corner  of  the  Frontispiece. 


HO  W  SEA •  URCHINS  GRO  W.  93 

a  stony  network  in  which  crabs  and  small  fishes  are 
entangled  and  so  caught  for  food. 

Here  we  have  then  three  types  of  prickly-skinned 
animals  all  bearing  rays,  and  all  having  the  same  pecu- 
liar water-tubes,  yet  each  of  them  has  his  own  differ- 
ent life, — the  feather-star,  scarcely  yet  caring  for  his 
freedom,  feeding  almost  in  the  same  way  as  the 
polyps  do  among  the  lasso-throwers  ;  the  brittle-star 
with  his  active  restless  arms  wriggling  into  cracks 
and  seizing  young  crabs  and  shell-fish  in  his  grasp  ; 
and  the  gliding  star-fish  with  its  thousands  of  tube- 
feet,  creeping  over  its  victims  and  carrying  havoc 
wherever  it  goes. 

But  we  have  by  no  means  yet  exhausted  the 
quaint  designs  of  this  ray- like  structure ;  on  the 
contrary,  we  come  now  to  the  most  fantastic  and 
whimsical  creatures,  not  only  among  the  tube-footed 
animals,  but  perhaps  among  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  sea. 

Is  it  because  the  sea-urchins  know  themselves  to 
be  as  grotesque  as  the  goblins  of  fairy  tales,  and  as 
uncanny  as  rolled -up  hedgehogs  seen  in  the  dim 
moonlight,  that  they  hide  themselves  so  persistently 
in  the  cracks  of  rocky  pools,  or  bore  holes  in  the 
limestone  in  which  to  hide  their  prickly  bodies,  or 
wrap  themselves  up  in  seaweed  packed  deftly  between 
their  spines  ?  Or  is  it  not  more  likely  that  they 
know  too  well  the  brittleness  of  their  formidable 
looking  spines,  and  either  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the 
rolling  waves  and  currents  or  protect  themselves  from 
their  violence  by  a  padding  of  soft  seaweed  ? 

Be  this  as  it  may,  they  are  not  always  easy  to 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


find  alive,  unless  by  those  who  know  their  haunts 
under  large  stones  on  the  sand,  or  who  fish  for  them 
in  deep  water ;  yet  they  are  plentiful  on  all  our 
coasts,  and  most  people  have  picked  up  fragments  of 
their  shells  upon  the  beach.  When  they  are  found, 
however,  and  placed  in  salt  water,  they  well  repay 
the  trouble  of  a  search,  if  only  because  they  are  so 
different  from  anything  we  have  seen  before. 

Imagine  a  hedgehog  rolled  up  tightly  into  a  ball 
and  beginning  to  walk  along,  not  on  his  feet,  but  on 
the  tips  of  his  spines  as  if  on  stilts,  and  putting  out 
here  and  there  long  fine  tubes  like  threads  of  gutta- 
percha  to  anchor  himself  on  his  road,  and  you  will 
have  a  fair  picture  of  a  walking  echinus  or  sea-urchin, 
as  he  moves  slowly  along  an  aquarium  or  over  the 
rocks  on  the  sea-shore.     There  is  something  singu- 
larly   whimsical    in     the 
movement  of  this  prickly 
ball    as    it    gravely    lifts 
some  of.  its  sucker- feet  to 
plant  others,  guiding  it- 
self   the    while    by    its 
movable    spines.       Each 
spine  looks  so  knowing, 
turning    itself   round   by 
its  ball-and-socket  joint, 
apparently     making     its 
own      little      excursions 

ASea-Urchin*walkingonarock.    withOUt    regard     to    what 

''  Walk!ng  tubes'  the  other  spines  are  doing; 
and   in   large  specimens, 
where  the  little   claws  can  be  seen  round  the  spines 

*  Echinus  sjbhara. 


HOW  SEA-URCHINS  GROW. 


95 


-  40- 


twisting  and  snapping  incessantly,  the  effect  is  more 
comical  than  can  be  expressed  in  a  description. 

But  our  sea-urchin  is  something  more  than  amus- 
ing, he  is  a  most  wonderful  example  of  how  animals 
can  be  built  upon  the  same  plan,  and  yet  so  altered  to 
suit  their  life  that  we  should  scarcely  recognise  them 
as  relations.  Looking  at  a  sea-urchin,  who  would  be- 
lieve that  it  has  anything  in  common  with  the  star- 
fish ?  Yet  if  you  examine  it  without  its  spines,  a  rough 
description  will  soon  explain  how  alike  they  are. 

Suppose  you  were  to  take  a  dead  star-fish  and 
bend  its  rays  backwards  till  they  meet  round  the 
disc  of  the  back  ;  sew  the 
tips  there,  and  then  sew 
the  five  rays  together  up 
the  sides  so  as  to  form  a 
ball  flattened  in  the  mid- 
dle, you  would  then  have 
the  mouth  of  the  animal 
(m,  Figs  37  and  40)  un- 
derneath the  ball,  and  the 
five  rows  of  feet  (A,  Fig. 
36, /A,  Fig.  40)  running  A  Sea.Urchin  after  its  spines  have 

Up    it,  While    the    edge    of  been  rubbed  off. 

each  ray  where  there  are  m,  Mouth,  fh,  Foot -holes 
no  feet  would  touch  through  which  the  ™alking  tubes 

pass,    wn,  The  water  hole,    e,  Eyes, 
the     edge     of     the     next   S}  Sockets  of  larger  spines. 

ray,  making  two  rows  of 

footless  strips  between  each  group  of  suckers.  If 
you  could  now  blow  out  this  ball  so  that  the  mouth 
and  back  were  some  distance  apart  and  the  whole 
was  round,  this  would  roughly  represent  our  sea- 
urchin  without  its  spines. 


96  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  tiny  urchin  which  came  out 
of  the  jelly-animal  No.  4  grew  up  strictly  according 
to  the  true  ray-like  (or  radiate)  plan,  and  yet  what  a 
change  he  has  made  and  what  a  snug  home  he  has 
formed  round  his  body  ! 

By  laying  down  plates  of  lime  within  his  soft  flesh 
he  has  built  a  strong  box,  in  which  all  his  soft  parts 
are  enclosed,  and  at  the  same  time  has  managed  to  keep 
a  complete  communication  with  the  outer  world.  His 
sucker-feet,  which  act  exactly  like  those  of  the  star- 
fish, lie  safely  within  the  box  till  he  needs  them,  and 
then  each  one  is  put  out  at  a  tiny  hole  like  a  pin- 
prick in  one  of  the  rows  (JK}.  The  porous  plate 
(wJi)  supplying  them  with  water  is  at  the  top  of  the 
shell  in  the  back,  where  it  would  be  in  the  star-fish, 
and  in  the  other  plates  near  it  are  the  openings  out 
of  which  it  passes  its  eggs.  But  where  are  its  eyes  ? 
Consider  for  a  moment  where  they  ought  to  be  upon 
the  star -fish  plan.  At  the  tip  of  each  ray,  and 
therefore,  when  the  rays  are  turned  up  so  that  the 
tips  meet  round  the  back,  they  will  be  at  the  top  of 
the  shell,  where  you  will  find  five  small  holes  contain- 
ing eyes  (e),  not  so  perfect  as  those  of  the  star-fish 
but  sufficient  to  see  light. 

Could  a  stronger  or  safer  fortress  have  been 
designed  even  by  the  most  ingenious  engineer?  No 
single  soft  spot  is  left  bare  to  attack  except  the  skin 
round  the  mouth,  and  this  is  always  turned  to  the 
ground  and  defended  by  the  spines  projecting  on  all 
sides.  The  mouth  itself  is  a  most  complicated  piece 
of  mechanism,  with  five  strong  teeth  set  in  powerful 
jaws,  which  lie  inside  the  shell. 

And  now  how  is  this  box  to  grow  ?     The  tiny 


HO  W  SEA-URCHINS  GRO  W.  97 

sea-urchin  left  nestling  in  the  seaweed  has  to  grow  up 
to  a  large  animal,  sometimes  as  big  as  a  pomegranate, 
and  yet  its  body  is  tightly  shut  in  within  lime  walls. 
Look  again  at  the  shell  after  it  is  stripped  of  its 
spines  (Fig.  40),  and  you  will  see  that  it  is  made  of 
more  than  a  hundred  separate  plates.  While  the 
animal  is  living  these  plates  are  covered  within  and 
without  by  a  slimy  film,  and  this  film  passes  also 
between  each  plate.  Now  as  the  animal  grows  it 
takes  fresh  lime  from  the  sea-water  into  this  film, 
and  places  it,  atom  by  atom,  evenly  on  the  edges  of 
the  plates,  and  so  the  shell  grows  with  the  body  with- 
out disturbing  any  part ;  and  if  this  does  not  give 
sufficient  room  it  can  also  add  some  plates  to  the 
top  of  the  shell  at  the  end  of  each  ray. 

So  the  sea-urchin  lives  and  grows,  wandering  over 
the  seaweed  beds  and  grazing  with  his  powerful  jaws 
as  a  sheep  grazes  in  a  meadow.  Though  the  shells 
of  animals  are  sometimes  found  in  his  stomach  they 
are  not  his  proper  food,  for  he  is  a  vegetarian  and 
might  probably  almost  be  said  to  chew  the  cud  in 
his  powerful  jaws,  which  Aristotle  called  by  the 
curious  name  of  "  lantern  "  from  their  peculiar  shape. 

He  has  many  powerful  enemies,  and  his  shell  is 
often  found  in  the  stomachs  of  large  fish  and  other 
sea-animals  ;  so  that  besides  his  strong  box  he  has 
great  need  of  his  spines  for  protection,  and  he  can 
give  very  sharp  pricks  with  them  from  out  of  his 
hiding-places  when  he  is  interfered  with.  His  spines, 
however,  serve  many  other  purposes.  They  guide 
him  when  he  walks,  they  help  him  to  burrow  in  the 
sand,  they  have  even  been  seen  passing  seaweed  and 
other  objects  over  his  body,  and  they  help  the  little 


98  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

snapping  claws  to  clear  away  any  refuse  which  may 
gather  on  the  shell.  Lastly,  the  sea-urchin,  which, 
like  the  star-fish,  often  protects  its  young  ones  in  their 
soft  infancy,  will  sometimes  gather  the  spines  together 
at  the  top  of  its  house,  and  so  form  a  tent  for  the 
tender  young  urchins  till  they  are  fit  to  go  alone. 

The  snapping  claws,  which  we  found  before  in  the 
star-fish,  exist  in  numbers  on  the  shell  of  the  Echinus, 
and  are  very  puzzling ;  they  are  so  very  active  and 
yet  seem  to  do  so  little  work.  They  have  often, 
however,  been  seen  passing  away  the  little  pellets  of 
refuse  food  which  come  out  of  a  hole  in  the  top  of 
the  shell.  These  pellets  are  handed  down  from  claw 
to  claw  till  they  can  be  dropped  into  the  water  and 
so  got  rid  of.  In  the  same  way  small  worms  and 
seeds  of  plants  and  other  living  things  are  cleared  off 
the  bristling  shell  by  these  busy  little  snapping  beaks. 
The  spines  by  their  constant  movement  help,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  this  cleaning  process,  and  have  probably 
many  uses  not  known  to  us. 

Who  will  say  when  he  examines  the  structure  and 
studies  the  habits  of  the  Echinus,  that  this  child  of 
life  is  not  a  quaint,  clever,  wonderful,  and  skilful 
piece  of  mechanism,  as  it  lives  and  breeds  by 
thousands  in  the  depths  of  the  sea  ?  Any  handful  of 
seaweed  out  of  a  pool  at  low  tide  will  contain  some, 
so  small  as  hardly  to  be  noticed  ;  while  from  the 
rocky  depths  of  the  Mediterranean  the  fishermen 
bring  up  large  ones  in  order  to  sell  their  bunches 
of  eggs  for  food.  Yet,  as  they  stand  in  the  Italian 
markets  feebly  moving  their  spines  round  and  round 
in  search  of  some  of  the  old  familiar  objects  in  their 
sea -home,  how  few  people  stop  to  examine  the 


THE  SEA-CUCUMBERS.  99 

curious  box  or  to  think  of  the  history  of  its  dying 
architect ! 

And  now,  what  has  been  happening  all  this  time 
to  the  small  worm-like  creature  No.  5,  which  we  left 
hidden  in  the  rocks  ?  You  will  have  to  search  well 
in  the  crevice  of  some  dripping  cavern  only  lately 
deserted  by  the  tide,  and  there  you  may  perchance 
find  him  bathing  himself  in  a  rocky  pool,  a  large 
soft  satiny  sausage,  purple,  white,  or  brown,  with  five 
delicate  stripes  down  his  body  (see  Frontispiece),  and 
a  wreath  of  beautiful  purple  tentacles  like  fine  sea- 
weed waving  round  his  mouth.  What  connection  can 
this  worm-like  creature  have  with  the  rayed  animals  ? 

Wait  awhile  and  look  more  closely.  Sluggish 
though  he  is,  the  Sea-cucumber  does  care  to  move 
sometimes,  if  only  to  fill  his  body  with  sand,  and  so 
get  the  particles  of  living  matter  which  form  his  sole 
food.  As  he  begins  to  glide  along,  see,  from  the 
five  stripes  running  along  his  body  there  appear  a 
number  of  tiny  tubes  with  suckers  (see  Frontispiece),* 
by  which  he  draws  himself  along.  Here  then  are 
again  our  five  rays  of  tube-feet,  but  this  time  not 
forming  a  star,  or  gathered  into  a  ball,  but  stretched 
out  along  a  soft  fleshy  tube. 

It  would  seem  almost  as  if  here  life  had  neglected 
to  arm  the  poor  soft  Sea -cucumber,  or,  tired  of 
inventing  prickly  defences,  had  fallen  back  again 
upon  a  soft  jelly-animal.  But  the  creature  is  not  so 
helpless  as  he  appears,  for  in  his  thick  transparent 
skin  are  strong  muscles  by  which  he  can  draw  his 

*  In  some  of  the  sea-cucumbers  the  rows  of  feet  are  all  drawn 
together  on  the  under  side  of  the  body,  and  this  is  the  case  in  the  form 
which  the  artist  has  represented  on  p.  82. 


ioo  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

body  in  and  out  much  as  a  worm  does  ;  and  some 
species  have  sharp  hooks  buried  in  their  flesh  which 
both  help  them  in  moving  and  in  wounding  those 
who  attack  them.  But  his  great  safeguard  is  his 
power  of  contraction.  Try  some  day  to  find  a  sea- 
cucumber  in  a  crevice  on  the  sea-shore,  and  then 
set  to  work  to  get  him  out.  You  will  feel  him  slip 
through  your  fingers  like  an  eel,  as  he  squeezes  the 
water  out  of  his  body  and  forces  himself  into  a  nar- 
row crack  from  which  he  cannot  be  dislodged  with- 
out breaking  the  rock.  There  is  a  safety  in  pliability 
which  is  sometimes  surer  than  a  stout  resistance,  and 
where  the  prickly  sea-urchin  might  fall  a  victim,  the 
sea-cucumber  effaces  himself  and  escapes. 

A  curious  mixture  he  is  of  the  savage  and  the 
cultivated  animal.  Though  he  gorges  himself  with 
sand,  which  seems  after  all  but  a  coarse  way  of 
getting  a  living,  yet  his  body  is  more  delicately 
formed  than  that  of  any  other  prickly-skinned  ani- 
mal, and  this  makes  it  all  the  more  strange  that  he 
should  have  the  power  of  throwing  out  nearly  the 
whole  of  his  inside,  and  yet  living  and  growing  it 
again.  Sir  John  Dalyell  found  that  a  sea-cucumber 
which  had  lost  its  tentacles,  its  throat,  its  network  of 
blood-vessels,  its  intestines,  and  its  egg-sac,  and  had 
literally  nothing  left  but  an  empty  tube,  lived,  and  in 
three  or  four  months  had  regrown  all  the  inside  of 
its  body.  An  animal  which  can  exist  like  this,  and 
is  scarcely  ever  found  with  all  its  parts  complete, 
because  it  has  parted  with  some  of  them,  and  yet  is 
healthy  and  strong,  need  surely  not  envy  the  brittle- 
star  its  stony  case  and  wriggling  arms,  nor  the  sea- 
urchin  its  strong  box. 


THE  SEA-CUCUMBERS.  101 

And  now  we  have  followed  our  five  little  jelly- 
bodies  out  into  life,  and  have  found  that  they  have 
as  much  a  real  history  as  you  or  I  have,  with  real 
struggles  and  difficulties  which  they  can  only  over- 
come by  using  all  their  powers.  The  varieties  of 
these  five  forms  are  far  too  many  for  us  even  to 
glance  at  them.  There  are  the  fixed  stone-lilies  of 
the  deep  sea,  which  do  not  become  free  like  the 
feather-star.  There  are  brittle-stars,  from  a  tiny  star 
with  a  disc  as  small  as  a  pin's  head,  and  arms  like 
fine  threads,  to  others  measuring  a  foot  and  a  half 
across.  There  are  star-fish  large  and  small,  some 
like  stars,  others  like  five-sided  plates,  others  with  the 
rays  turned  back  like  a  folded  dinner-napkin.  There 
are  sea-urchins  round,  egg-shaped,  wheel-shaped,  and 
flattened,  and  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  child's 
head  ;  while  there  are  others  from  warm  seas,  with 
three- edged  spines  as  thick  as  a  little  finger,  and 
twice  as  long.  A  visit  to  any  good  museum  *  will 
show  these  varying  forms,  and  though  the  sea-cucum- 
bers will  not  be  so  well  represented,  because  they 
are  soft  animals,  yet  you  will  find  the  Trepangs  of  the 
Chinese,  with  their  black  leathery  coats,  and  others 
which  are  covered  with  plates  of  lime.  The  beauti- 
ful Synapta,  which  lives  in  our  English  Channel,  with 
its  lovely  rose-coloured  tube,  and  its  anchor-bearing 
shields,  you  will  not  so  easily  find,  for  it  is  so  brittle 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  preserve.  This  lovely 
creature,  often  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  shelters  itself 
by  a  tube  of  sand  built  in  rings  by  its  tentacles,  and 
passed  down  over  its  body  by  the  microscopic  anchors 
buried  in  its  soft  flesh,  and  by  these  anchors  it  also 
*  The  British  Museum  has  a  very  fine  collection. 


102  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

draws  itself  in  and  out,  showing  a  new  expedient  used 
by  an  animal  in  which  the  tube-feet  are  wanting. 

These  and  many  other  wonderful  adaptations  are 
open  to  all  to  study,  but  we  must  not  linger  over 
them  here.  One  marked  step  we  have  made  in  this 
division — we  have  advanced  from  mere  floating  or 
fixed  animals  to  creatures  able  to  wander  freely  over 
the  floor  of  the  ocean.  The  children  of  life  have 
now  got  their  feet  upon  the  ground,  but  not  yet 
their  heads  above  water.  In  fact  they  have  as  yet 
no  heads  to  put  anywhere.  Eyes,  ears,  mouths,  and 
feet  we  have  met  with,  but  no  heads,  nor  have  any 
of  these  animals  been  able  to  live  out  of  their  watery 
home. 

But  soon  a  new  prospect  opens  before  us,  and  in 
the  mollusca  or  soft-bodied  animals,  and  the  worms, 
we  shall  begin  to  enter  upon  earth-life.  Not  sud- 
denly, however,  for  all  new  powers  are  of  slow  growth, 
and  through  many  chapters  yet  we  shall  find  the 
largest  number  of  each  group  clinging  to  their  old 
ocean  home,  and  only  here  and  there  air-breathing 
and  head-crowned  forms  mingling  in  the  throng. 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS. 


103 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS,  AND  HOW  THEY 
LIVE  WITH  HEADS  AND  WITHOUT  THEM  * 


See  what  a  lovely  shell, 
Small  and  pure  as  a  pearl, 
Lying  close  to  my  foot, 
Frail,  but  a  work  divine, 
Made  so  fairily  well, 
With  delicate  spire  and  whorl, 
How  exquisitely  minute, 
A  miracle  of  design. 


The  tiny  cell  is  forlorn, 
Void  of  the  little  living  will 
That  made  it  stir  on  the  shore  ; 
Did  he  stand  at  the  diamond  door 
Of  his  house  in  a  rainbow  frill  ? 
Did  he  push  when  he  was  uncurled, 
A  golden  foot  or  a  fairy  horn, 
Thro'  his  dim  water- world  ? 

TENNYSON. 


F     all    our    many    playthings 
when    we    were    children,   were 
there    any     we     loved     better     or 
cherished    longer     than   the    shells 
which  we  brought  home   from  the 
seaside,  and  each  of  which  we  knew, 
not  perhaps  by  name,  but  as  a  shep- 
herd knows  his  sheep,  so   that   no 
single  one  could  be  missing  without 
our  detecting  it  ? 

They  may  have  been  only  com- 
mon shells,  such  as  the  small  pink- 
tinted  scallops,  variegated  top-shells, 
small  cowries,  or  spiral  turrets,  with 
here  and  there  a  delicate  razor-shell,  treasured  espe- 

*  The  sea-mats   (Polyzoa),  sea-squirts  (Ascidians),  and  lampshells 


104  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

cially  because  so  easily  broken.  Yet  we  felt  in- 
stinctively that  they  were  more  beautiful  than  any 
artificial  toys,  and  though  probably  we  scarcely 
thought  of  the  animal  which  formed  them,  yet  the 
delicate  marking  and  tints  of  colour  which  each  had 
left  upon  his  house,  pleased  our  eye  more  than  gaudy 
pictures  or  painted  playthings. 

And  even  amongst  older  people  is  there  any  place 
in  the  world  where  shells  are  not  admired  ?  The 
savage  strings  them  into  necklaces,  and  so  does  the 
refined  lady  of  fashion  ;  while  there  is  probably  not 
a  house,  even  the  poorest  in  England,  where  they 
do  not  figure  as  ornaments,  from  the  giant  conchs 
and  cowries  of  the  South  Seas,  brought  home  by 
some  sailor  son,  to  the  little  boxes  made  of  our 
common  coast  shells. 

Now  each  one  of  these  millions  of  shells  pre- 
served in  all  parts  of  the  world,  as  well  as  of  the 
countless  multitudes  which  lie  crushed  and  broken 
on  the  sea-shore  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  has 
once  been  the  home  of  a  living  animal,  which  was 
born  wrapped  in  a  transparent  mantle  endowed  with 
the  wonderful  power  of  extracting  lime  from  the  sea- 
water  which  it  has  taken  into  its  body,  tinting  it  with 
beautiful  colours,  and  building  it  up  into  a  solid 
house. 

This  wonder-working  mantle  which  life  has  given 
to  these  soft-bodied  mollusca  (mollis,  soft)  may  easily 
be  seen  in  any  common  shell-inhabiting  animal,  such 
as  the  oyster  or  the  periwinkle.  When  an  oyster  is 

(BrackiopoJa),  are  purposely  omitted  in  this  chapter,  because  although 
familiar  objects,  yet  their  structure  is  too  difficult  and  their  true  position 
too  uncertain  for  them  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  book  of  this  kind. 


THE  MANTLE- COVERED  ANIMALS.          105 

opened  you  may  see  two  transparent  flaps,  with 
thickened  edges,  one  lying  above,  and  the  other 
below  the  oyster  in  its  shell  (in,  Fig.  41,  p.  108), 
and  these  two  flaps  are  the  two  halves  of  the  mantle, 
which,  when  they  touch,  enclose  the  animal  between 
them.  In  the  periwinkle  the  mantle  is  equally  visible, 
but  this  time  it  is  all  in  one  piece,  and  forms  a  com- 
plete transparent  tube,  out  of  which  the  animal  pokes 
its  head  and  its  crumpled  foot  bearing  the  horny  lid, 
or  opercuhun,  which  closes  the  shell. 

When  the  periwinkle  was  very  young  he  was  not 
larger  than  the  head  of  a  small  pin,  and  his  shell  was 
like  a  minute  transparent  bead.  But  as  his  body 
grew  larger  it  was  necessary  for  his  home  to  be  both 
larger  and  stronger.  Then  he  stretched  out  his 
mantle  till  it  reached  over  the  edge  of  the  tiny  shell, 
and  gave  out  from  it  a  thin  film,  in  which  were  grains 
of  lime  which  had  been  passed  through  his  body  into 
the  mantle.  This  film,  clinging  to  the  inside  of  the 
shell  and  stretching  over  its  edge,  formed  a  fresh 
internal  layer,  and  a  new  rim  to  the  mouth.  The 
rim,  however,  was  not  white,  but  coloured  by  little 
cells  of  dark  paint  or  pigment,  secreted  in  the  border 
of  the  mantle.  The  shell  was  now  a  little  larger  and 
a  little  thicker,  and  the  mantle  was  drawn  in  till  a 
still  more  roomy  house  was  needed,  and  then  the 
same  thing  took  place  again  ;  and  so  the  building 
went  on  till  the  shell  was  completed,  the  lines  round 
and  round  it  marking  the  rims  which  had  each  in 
their  turn  formed  its  mouth. 

In  this  way  the  mantle,  not  only  of  the  periwinkle 
but  of  all  the  mollusca  builds  up  the  shell  for  the 
animal  to  live  in.  In  the  oyster  each  half  of  the 


io6  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

mantle  lays  down  its  own  separate  valve,  and  this  is 
the  case  with  all  those  mollusca  which  have  no 
heads  ;  they  all  grow  bivalve,  or  two-valved,  shells, 
while  those  which  have  heads,  such  as  periwinkles, 
snails,  and  whelks,  have  their  mantle  all  in  one  piece, 
and  consequently  grow  single  or  univalve  shells. 

Nor  is  this  all,  for  the  shape,  colour,  and  pecu- 
liarities of  all  the  different  shells  come  from  pecu- 
liarities of  the  mantle.  If  this  is  crumpled  at  the 
edge  or  drawn  out  in  horn-like  folds,  then  the  shell 
will  have  a  crumpled  form  like  the  scallop,  or  horns 
like  the  murex,  while  the  sunlight  falling  upon  the 
mantle  seems  to  help  it  in  forming  the  bright  pig- 
ment with  which  it  paints  its  home,  so  that  shallow- 
water  shells  and  those  of  the  tropics  are  more  brightly 
coloured  than  those  from  the  deep  sea  or  from  dull 
climates.  Again  in  the  inside  of  the  shell,  if  the 
mantle  leaves  a  smooth  layer  this  will  be  white,  but 
when  the  film  is  crumpled  in  very  fine  folds,  these 
reflect  the  light  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the  beautiful 
colours  known  as  mother-of-pearl ;  while,  if  the  mantle 
be  irritated  at  any  point,  it  will  form  in  the  oyster 
or  the  mussel  a  little  bead  of  lime  afterwards  to  be 
increased  into  a  pearl. 

And  now  with  this  picture  in  your  mind  of  the 
mantle  at  work,  visit  any  good  collection  of  shells, 
such  as  that  at  the  British  Museum,  and  look  at  the 
giant  Strombs  and  Volutes  of  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  the 
Pinnas  from  the  Mediterranean,  half  a  yard  long, 
with  their  erect  curled  scales  ;  the  prickly  Murex 
with  its  delicate  pink-tinted  lining  ;  and  the  gorgeous 
purple  Mussels.  Notice  the  rainbow-coloured  cham- 
bers of  the  Nautilus,  the  pearly  lining  of  the  Haliotis, 


THE  MANTLE-  CO  VERED  ANIMALS.          107 

and  the  lustrous  transparent  shell  of  the  floating 
Carinaria,  and  then  say  whether  the  work  done  by 
the  mantle  of  the  soft-bodied  animals  does  not  surpass 
that  of  any  sculptor  or  artist  in  the  world ! 

Yet  this  is  not  the  chief  object  of  the  shell,  which 
is  meant  to  shield  the  delicate  creature  within,  and 
does  it  so  successfully  that  though  the  soft  bodies 
of  the  mollusca  offer  the  most  tempting  morsels  to 
birds  and  insects  on  the  land,  and  to  almost  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  sea,  yet,  protected  by  their  shelly 
covering  they  spread  into  every  nook  and  corner  of 
the  globe,  giving  birth  to  such  multitudes  of  young, 
that,  in  spite  of  all  the  havoc  which  thins  their  ranks, 
they  flourish  in  abundance.  Even  the 

"  Poor  patient  oyster  where  it  sleeps 
Within  its  pearly  house," 

although  it  is  the  most  helpless  of  all  the  headless 
mollusca,  would  overspread  all  the  deep-sea  banks 
round  our  coast  if  we  would  let  it  alone.  The  oyster 
fishers  have  only  to  visit  their  well-known  haunts 
about  half-a-mile  or  a  mile  from  the  shore,  in  Essex, 
Kent,  Wales,  and  elsewhere,  to  rake  them  up  by 
hundreds.  If  you  could  dive  down  there  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea  you  would  find  the  oysters  cemented  firmly 
to  the  rocks  and  to  each  other  by  the  under  part  of 
the  largest  valve,  which  is  cup -like  in  the  centre 
where  the  body  lies,  while  the  flatter  valve  is  gaping 
open  and  a  stream  of  water  is  gently  flowing  over 
the  oyster  within. 

The  shells  stand  naturally  open  because  they  have 
an  elastic  cushion  (c)  something  like  a  thick  piece  of 
gutta-percha  fixed  within  the  hinge,  which  acts  like 
6 


io8 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig.  41. 


Iv 


a  spring  of  a  jack-in-the-box,  and  drives  the  covering 
valve  up  unless  it  is  forcibly  pulled  down.  This, 
however,  can  be  done  by 
a  strong  muscle  (ms) 
which  lies  within  the 
valves,  and  has  one  end 
fastened  to  the  upper  and 
the  other  to  the  lower 
valve,  so  that  by  con- 
tracting this  muscle  the 
oyster  can  pull  its  shell 
together  with  a  snap 
when  danger  is  near. 
Close  round  this  muscle 
lies  the  body  of  the  ani- 
mal between  the  two 
flaps  of  the  mantle  (m  m'). 


An  Oyster  *  lying  in  the  shell. 

s,  Shell ;  m,  lower  half  of  mantle 

m,  a  piece  of  the  upper  half;  g 

breathing  gills  ;  h,  heart ;  Iv,  liver 

lp,  lips ;  o,  opening  of  mouth  ;  a 


anus  where  refuse  is  thrown  out ;  ms 
muscle  holding  shells  together  ;   c 


Lifting  up  the  upper  flap 
you  will  find,  edging  the 


elastic  cushion  forcing  them  apart.      bO(Jy  ancj  growing  to  the 

mantle,  a  delicate  transparent  frill  (g)  of  four  striped 
bands,  these  are  his  gills  or  breathing  apparatus. 

"  The  fringes  that  circle  its  body, 

Which  epicures  think  should  be  cleared, 
Are  the  animal's  lungs — for  'tis  odd,  he 
Like  a  foreigner  breathes  through  his  beard. " 

The  stripes  are  tubes  which  run  up  and  down 
each  fold,  and  through  them  flows  the  sluggish 
colourless  blood  of  the  oyster,  so  that  as  the  gills  lie 
bathed  in  water,  the  blood  takes  in  oxygen  through 
the  delicate  membrane,  and  flows  back  to  the  body 
purified  and  refreshed.  The  remainder  of  the  oyster 
*  Oslrea  edulis. 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.  109 

consists  of  its  stomach,  digestive  tube,  and  dark 
coloured  liver  (Iv),  an  ovary  where  the  oyster  eggs  are 
formed,  and  a  heart  (/i),  with  two  chambers,  which 
pumps  the  blood  through  the  channels  of  the  body, 
while  fine  nerves  spread  in  all  directions,  not  yet 
arranged  in  pairs  along  a  cord  as  we  shall  find  them 
afterwards  in  insects,  but  straggling  to  the  various 
parts  from  two  chief  centres. 

But  where  is  the  mouth  ?  Placing  the  oyster  with 
its  deep  shell  downwards,  and  the  rounded  part  to- 
wards you,  you  will  find  an  opening  (o)  in  the  right 
hand  corner  near  the  hinge,  and  over  it  four  thin  lips 
(lp}.%  If  you  could  watch  the  oyster  alive,  you  would 
see  that  all  the  water  passing  over  the  gills  flows 
towards  this  mouth,  and  the  reason  is  made  clear  if 
you  put  a  small  piece  of  a  gill  in  water  under  the 
microscope  ;  for  then  you  will  see  a  whole  forest  of 
lashes  waving  over  the  surface  of  the  gills  like  reeds 
in  a  stream,  and  striking  strongly  in  one  direction, 
namely,  towards  where  the  mouth  would  be.  By 
means  of  the  action  of  these  lashes,  or  cilia,  the  oyster, 
as  he  lies  gaping  in  the  water,  has  a  constant  current 
flowing  over  him,  which  not  only  provides  him  with 
breath,  but  drives  the  helpless  microscopic  plants 
and  animals  past  his  thin  lips,  to  be  drawn  in  and 
swallowed. 

But  though  the  oyster  has  little  trouble  in  obtain- 
ing his  food,  he  has  much  in  preserving  himself  from 
danger.  When  he  first  comes  out  of  the  egg,  he  re- 
mains for  some  time  lying  safely  between  the  gills  of 

*  In  opening  oysters  at  the  shops,  they  turn  them  on  the  flat  valve, 
and  remove  the  round  one,  so  that  the  mouth  will  then  be  seen  on  the 
left  side. 


i  io  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

his  parent,  but  by  and  by  he  is  cast  out,  to  make 
room  for  others  (for  one  oyster  may  lay  as  many  as 
two  million  eggs  in  a  year),  and  swims  away  by  means 
of  a  number  of  lashes,  which  extend  beyond  his  thin 
transparent  shell.  Woe  betide  him  then  if  he  comes 
near  to  a  hungry  fish,  or  crab,  or  sea-anemone,  for 
millions  of  young  oysters  are  swallowed  by  these 
animals  ;  yet  he  is  not  quite  without  help,  for  at  this 
time  he  has  two  little  red  eye-spots,  and  can  see  his 
danger,  whereas  he  loses  these  after  he  is  fixed  to 
the  rock.  Still  even  then  his  nerves  seem  sensitive 
to  light,  for  his  valves  are  said  to  close  at  once  when 
a  boat  passes  over  him  in  clear  water,  and  his  sense 
of  touch  is  very  acute  all  round  his  mantle  ; '  and  as 
he  builds  his  shell  firm  and  strong,  he  can  show  fight 
against  many  intruders,  and  live  sometimes  for  ten, 
twelve,  or  fifteen  years. 

But  it  is  amid  many  perils,  for  the  star-fish  can 
apply  his  greedy  mouth  to  the  valves,  and  stifle  him 
in  his  grasp,  and  annelids  or  sea-worms  can  work 
their  way  into  his  shell,  while  the  whelk  with  his 
rasping  tongue  bores  right  through  it,  and  feeds  on 
his  tender  flesh  ;  and,  if  he  escapes  all  these,  the 
boring  sponges  destroy  hundreds  of  his  race  by 
riddling  the  shells  with  holes,  and  growing  upon  the 
graves  of  their  victims.  Even  his  own  children  often 
cause  his  death,  by  settling  down  upon  his  upper 
valve,  so  that  when  a  bank  becomes  densely  popu- 
lated those  underneath  are  stifled  in  a  living  grave. 

From  the  oyster  which  lives  on  banks  at  many 
fathoms  depth,  we  will  pass  on  to  the  mussel  anchored 
nearer  to  the  shore  on  the  mud-banks  and  groynes 
which  are  uncovered  at  low  water.  Here  the  waves 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS. 


in 


beat  roughly,  and  to  be  safe  it  is  necessary  to  with- 
stand them.  But  the  mussels  (M,  Fig.  42)  do  not, 
like  oysters,  cement  themselves  down  for  life.  They 
have  a  different  stratagem  which  enables  them  to  get 
free  if  they  wish.  They  have  below  their  body  a 
muscular  flap,  which  goes  by  the  name  of  a  "foot," 
and  is  made  up  of  layers  of  muscle  crossing  and 

Fig.  42. 


Group  of  headless  Mollusca. 

C,  Cockle  *  springing.    M,  Mussel. t   S,  Scallop.J   R,  Razor-fish.§ 
/,  Foot ;  t,  anchoring  threads  ;  si,  breathing  siphons ;  e,  eyes  of  scallop. 

recrossing  each  other.  In  this  foot  there  is  a  deep 
groove,  out  of  which  they  force  a  milky  fluid  which 
hardens  into  threads  (f)  and  anchors  them  to  the 
rock.  Any  one  who  has  tried  to  wrench  mussels 
from  their  bed,  knows  how  strongly  these  threads 
hold  ;  and  if  you  remove  the  mussels  carefully  and 
put  them  in  an  aquarium,  you  may  see  them  anchor 

*  Cardium.  t  Mytilus.  £  Pecten.  §  Solen. 


ii2  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

themselves.  As  soon  as  they  grow  a  little  accus- 
tomed to  the  place  they  will  begin  feeling  about  with 
their  foot  to  find  a  spot,  and  then  pressing  the  tip 
firmly  against  it,  will  draw  it  back  after  a  time, 
leaving  a  thread  behind.  The  huge  fan-mussel  or 
Pinna,  common  off  Plymouth,  forms  threads  so  silky 
that  they  have  actually  been  woven  into  gloves. 
The  mussel  then  has  the  power  of  spinning  new 
threads  and  settling  in  new  spots,  but  he  is  prac- 
tically a  stationary  animal,  providing  himself  with 
plenty  of  food  by  the  rapid  motion  of  his  fringed 
gills,  so  that  even  young  shrimps  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts  are  carried  into  the  whirlpool.  Then  when 
the  tide  goes  down,  he  closes  his  shell,  shutting  in 
enough  water  to  last  till  the  sea  returns,  and  it  is 
while  he  is  left  high  and  dry  that  the  sea-birds  often 
wrench  him  from  the  rocks  and  devour  him. 

In  the  scallop  (S,  Fig.  42)  we  get  a  step  farther ; 
for  though  he  too  forms  a  slight  cable  and  anchors 
himself  to  the  rock,  yet  he  can  in  most  cases  with- 
draw it  at  will  and  dart  through  the  water  in  long 
rapid  leaps,  so  that  a  group  of  young  scallops  look 
as  if  they  were  performing  a  dance.  Mr.  Gosse,  who 
watched  this  in  an  aquarium,  saw  the  scallop  draw  as 
much  water  as  it  could  hold  within  its  mantle,  and 
then,  closing  the  edge,  squirt  it  out  at  one  corner  so 
as  to  drive  itself  along  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
lima,  which  is  nearly  related  to  the  scallop,  and  has  a 
lovely  orange  fringe  to  its  mantle,  often  builds  a  nest 
with  its  threads,  working  in  pieces  of  coral,  gravel, 
and  shells,  and  fastens  it  to  the  seaweed,  lining  it 
with  a  smooth  layer  of  slime,  and  taking  refuge  in  it 
out  of  the  way  of  crabs  and  fishes.  But  the  scallop 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          113 

goes  boldly  out  into  the  sea,  and  you  will  not  wonder 
at  its  activity  when  you  see  its  beautiful  jewelled  eyes 
(e]  set  all  round  the  rim  of  its  mantle  like  precious 
stones  set  in  a  ring.  You  may  easily  see  these  eyes 
peeping  out  at  you  through  the  half-opened  shell  in 
any  fishmonger's  shop,  and  a  pretty  sight  it  is. 

The  life  of  the  cockle  (C,  Fig.  42)  is  very  different 
True  he  can  leap  to  a  great  distance  by  bending  his 
long  foot  (/)  and  straightening  it  with  a  jerk  ;  but 
he  uses  it  chiefly  to  burrow  in  the  soft  sand,  and  then 
he  draws  his  body  down  till  only  the  tip  of  his  shell  is 
uncovered,  and  there  he  takes  in  water  and  food. 
Some  cockles  have  the  two  flaps  of  their  mantles 
joined  together  and  drawn  out  on  the  side  opposite 
the  foot  into  two  short  tubes  (si,  Fig.  42),  down  one 
of  which  the  water  enters,  while  it  is  thrown  out  at 
the  other. 

Lastly,  the  razor -fish,  whose  shells  we  find  so 
often,  but  whose  bodies  we  rarely  see,  scarcely  ever 
come  above  ground  at  all,  but  burrow  with  their  thick 
foot  till  only  the  two  siphons  (si)  are  uncovered,  and 
throw  up  jets  of  water,  by  which  the  fishermen  find 
them  when  they  dig  them  up  for  bait. 

We  have  bivalves  then  lying  fixed  in  the  deep 
water,  anchored  on  the  stormy  shore,  and  buried  in 
the  sand,  nay  more,  if  we  search  at  low  tide  we  may 
often  find  the  rocks  riddled  with  holes,  and,  on  break- 
ing them  open,  see  within  a  Pholas,  an  animal  like  the 
razor-fish,  but  much  shorter  and  with  a  beautiful  deli- 
cate shell.  The  Pholas  has  learnt  to  find  a  home  in  the 
solid  rock,  while  the  groynes  of  our  shores  and  the 
bottoms  of  our  ships  are  destroyed  by  another  true 
bivalve,  the  Teredo,  which  is  miscalled  a  "  shipworm." 


ii4  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

Then  we  can  trace  these  headless  mollusca  from 
their  ocean-home  gradually  up  into  the  fresh  water, 
some  forms  living  in  the  brackish  water  at  the  river's 
mouth,  others  like  the  fresh-water  mussel  buried  in 
the  mud  of  rivers  ;  and  these  do  not  spin  threads, 
since  they  have  no  rude  waves  to  meet,  but  put  out 
two  short  siphons  to  the  pure  water  above.  All 
kinds  of  different  forms  with  their  habits  we  may 
study  on  the  coasts  and  in  the  ponds  and  rivers  ; 
but  we  never  find  a  bivalve  either  on  the  land,  or 
sailing  in  the  open  ocean. 


Fig.  4 


Molluscs  with  heads.     Vegetable-feeders. 

L,  Limpet*  walking,  and  attached.  P,  Periwinkle t  walking,  and 
closed.  /,  Foot ;  o,  operculum ;  s,  snout ;  g,  place  where  gills  lie 
under  the  shell. 

These  regions  they  are  obliged  to  leave  to  the 
more  highly-gifted  mollusca  with  heads  ;  and  when 
we  have  examined  the  little  periwinkle  grazing  on 
the  seaweed  among  the  rocks,  we  shall,  I  think,  be 
able  to  imagine  how  it  was  possible  for  some  of  his 

*  Patella  vulgaris.  t  Liltorina  littorea. 


THE  MANTLE-  CO  VERED  ANIMALS. 


distant  relations  to  venture  into  new  hunting  grounds 
and  become  land  animals. 

Watch  a  periwinkle  some  day  in  his  home  among 
the  rocks,  and  see  him  gently  lift  his  shell,  open  his 
horny  door  (p,  Fig.  43),  and  put  out  his  head.  He  has 
two  delicate  tentacles  to 
feel  with,  and  just  behind 
these  on  very  short  stalks 
are  set  two  tiny  but  keen 
eyes,  the  nerves  of  which 
join  the  great  nervous 
mass  now  for  the  first  time 
chiefly  centred  in  a  head. 
The  under  part  of  his 
body  is  a  flat  crumpled 
disk  or  foot,  as  it  is  called, 
composed  of  muscles;  and 
this  when  lengthened  out 
first  on  one  side  and  then 
on  the  other,  draws  him 
gently  along,  the  under 
side  being  moistened  from 
time  to  time  by  slime 
from  a  gland  within.  On  Theins;deofaPeriwinkle.-^««. 

account      of      this       foot        ^  Foot .  OT>  muscle  for  drawing 
being    under    the      body,   back  into  the  shell ;g,  spittle  glands; 

the    periwinkle   and    his  ^Sf£jKV^SS 

companions      are      called    ing  to  s,  stomach  ;  r,  rasp  of  teeth 

Stomach-footed  (Gastero-   foiled  up;  Jr  branchiae  or  breath- 

ing  gills,  which,  when  the  mantle 

Poda).       So   he  moves  On,   js  folded  back  in  its  place,  lie  over 
but  at  the  slightest  alarm    the  throat ;  a,  anus  ;  o,  ovary  carry- 
he   disappears    as    if  by 
magic  into  his  shell,  drawing  his  horny  door  close  be- 


u6  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

hind  him,  for  the  powerful  muscles  of  his  mantle 
(m,  Fig.  44)  enable  him  to  shorten  or  lengthen  his 
body  at  will.  If  undisturbed,  however,  he  finds  his 
way  to  a  mass  of  seaweed,  pushes  out  his  snout 
(s,  Fig.  43),  and  moves  very  slowly  along,  scraping 
fine  shavings  off  the  weed  as  he  goes,  so  as  to  leave 
minute  dents  behind  him. 

This  he  does  by  means  of  a  very  curious  instru- 
ment. If  you  could  look  into  his  mouth,  which 
opens  on  the  under  side  of  his  head,  you  would  find 
it  paved  with  sharp  teeth,  just  as  if  a  number  of 
nails  had  been  driven  into  it  point  upwards,  and  it  is 
with  these  that  he  rasps  the  seaweed  as  he  rubs  his 
jaw  along  it. 

But  this  rough  file  wears  away  rapidly  with  con- 
stant use,  and  to  meet  this  difficulty  he  has  a  com- 
plete provision  hidden  within.  The  rasp  within  his 
mouth  is  only  the  end  of  600  rows  of  teeth,  three  in 
a  row,  growing  on  a  long  gristly  strap  like  pins  stuck 
in  a  pincushion,  and  this  strap,  often  two  and  a  half 
inches  long,  closes  its  edges  together  at  the  back  of 
the  mouth  so  as  to  wrap  over  the  rough  points, 
and  is  then  rolled,  up  into  a  coil,  and  stowed  away 
in  a  fold  of  the  neck  (r,  Fig.  44).  As  the  front 
teeth  wear  away  this  strap  comes  gradually  for- 
wards on  the  floor  of  the  mouth,  the  new  teeth 
grow  up  and  are  sharpened,  ready  for  use.  This 
curious  strap  is  generally  called  the  "  tongue," 
though  a  "  rasp "  (radula)  is  a  much  more  appro- 
priate name. 

And  now  as  our  periwinkle  walks  and  feeds  he 
must  also  breathe,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to 
us,  no  creature  below  the  back-boned  animals  ever 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          117 

breathes  through  its  mouth.*  Look  back  to  the 
earlier  groups  and  you  will  see  that  the  sponges, 
jelly-fish,  and  corals  breathe  through  the  skin,  while 
the  star-fish  takes  in  water,  not  through  his  mouth, 
but  through  the  perforated  plate  in  his  back  ;  the 
oyster  breathes  by  means  of  gills  fringing  his  body, 
and  we  shall  find  by  and  by  that  insects  breathe 
through  holes  in  their  sides.  We  must  look  then 
for  the  gills  of  the  periwinkle,  and  we  find  them 
safely  lodged  in  a  fold  of  his  mantle  over  his  neck, 
just  within  the  broad  part  of  his  shell  (br,  Fig.  44). 
There  they  are  bathed  in  water  drawn  in  by  their 
waving  lashes,  and  when  the  periwinkle  is  left  high 
and  dry  by  the  tide  he  pulls-to  his  lid,  shutting  in  a 
supply  of  water. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  limpet,  not  that  he  has 
any  door  to  close,  but  he  clings  so  closely  to  the  rock 
that  water  is  shut  in  all  round  his  gills,  which  fringe 
his  body  just  above  the  foot.  You  would  hardly 
imagine  at  first  that  a  limpet  has  a  head  like  a 
periwinkle,  but  when  he  is  covered  by  the  water  and 
not  afraid  that  the  birds  will  peck  at  his  tender  foot 
and  carry  him  off  for  food,  you  may  see  him  lift  his 
shell  and  put  out  his  head  with  its  horns,  and  make 
a  track  off  to  the  nearest  seaweed,  where  he  grazes 
steadily.  But  when  the  tide  goes  down  you  will 
find  him  back  again  in  exactly  the  old  spot,  where 
he  has  worn  a  little  basin  for  himself  to  lie  in,  to 
which  he  fits  so  closely  that  sometimes  his  shell  will 

*  Exception  may  be  taken  to  this  generalisation  as  regards  the 
ascidians,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that,  so  far  as  the  true  nature 
of  these  has  been  determined,  they  appear  to  be  degraded  members  of 
the  vertebrate  type. 


u8 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


have  even  grown  a  little  deeper  on  one  side  than  on 
the  other  to  fit  some  dent  in  his  nook. 

These  are  the  peaceful  vegetable-feeders,  and  the 
margins  of  their  shells  (when  unbroken)  have  always 
unnotched  rims,  but  if  you  pick  up  a  shell  which 
has  a  notch  (n,  Fig.  45)  in  the  margin  as  in  a  cowry 

Fig-  45- 


Flesh-feeding  Molluscs. 

W,  Whelk.     E,  Whelk-eggs.     C,  Cowry. 

o,  Operculum  ;  n,  notch  in  shell ;  si,  siphon  ;  /,  foot ;  j,  snout. 

or  whelk  shell,  you  may  be  almost  certain  that  its 
owner  fed  on  other  animals,  for  flesh-feeders  have 
their  mantle  folded  right  round  their  gills,  and  drawn 
out  into  a  tube  or  siphon  (.«')  through  which  the  water 
is  taken  in,  and  the  notch  in  the  shell  marks  the  place 
where  the  siphon  protrudes. 

Now  these  flesh -feeders  have  to  work  much 
harder  for  their  living  than  the  grazing  limpet  or 
periwinkle.  Though  they  sometimes  devour  fish 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          119 

and  other  soft  animals,  yet  their  chief  food  is  shell- 
fish, and  they  have  to  reach  them  through  their 
closed  houses.  The  hungry  whelk  therefore  has  to 
bore  a  hole  through  a  solid  shell  before  he  can  take 
his  meal,  and  for  this  he  is  provided  with  a  boring 
instrument  such  as  any  engineer  might  envy.  His 
snout,  which  can  be  stretched  out  like  the  trunk  of 
an  elephant,  contains  a  toothed  rasp  like  the  peri- 
winkle's but  much  more  formidable ;  and  this  rasp  is 
moved  up  and  down  by  powerful  muscles  so  as  to 
act  like  a  fine  saw  drilling  a  neat  round  hole  even  in 
the  hardest  shell,  through  which  he  can  suck  out  the 
soft  body  it  contains.  It  is  curious  that  he  does  not 
always  know  when  he  will  find  food  within,  for  he 
will  sometimes  drill  a  hole  not  only  in  an  empty 
shell,  but  even  in  a  shell-like  stone. 

While  the  periwinkle  and  his  relations  then  are 
grazing  on  the  seaweed,  the  whelks  and  cowries, 
and  their  tribe,  are  finding  means  to  attack  the 
oysters  and  cockles,  limpets  and  periwinkles,  and  so 
to  establish  a  successful  hunting-ground  where  there 
would  be  no  room  for  more  vegetable-feeders  ;  and 
you  can  scarcely  pick  up  a  handful  of  shells  without 
finding  some  pierced  with  the  holes  made  by  these 
marauders.  They  people  the  shores  of  the  ocean  all 
over  the  world,  some  carrying  their  eggs  till  they  are 
hatched,  some  glueing  them  down  in  safe  nooks,  others, 
such  as  the  whelk,  laying  them  in  a  bunch  of  horny 
bags  (E,  Fig.  45),  in  each  of  which  the  young  whelk 
may  be  seen  moving,  if  you  can  pick  them  up  fresh 
from  the  sea.  And  when  the  little  ones  are  born, 
they  are  able  to  swim  about,  as  the  young  oyster 
was,  and  while  myriads  are  borne  away  on  the  sea 


120  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  devoured  by  other  animals,  the  remainder  settle 
down  and  feed  on  the  sea-bottom. 

This  is  the  history  of  the  sea-forms,  and  we  have 
now  to  glance  at  those  on  the  land.  First,  we  must 
notice,  in  passing,  the  water-snails  in  the  ponds  and 
rivers,  feeding  on  decayed  leaves  and  travelling  often 
from  place  to  place,  floating  shell  downwards  on  the 
surface  of  the  water,  or  hanging  from  the  water-plants 
by  slimy  threads.  Some  of  these  have  and  some  have 
not  the  horny  door,  while  some  breathe  by  gills,  and 
others  are  air-breathers.  Then  we  have  not  much 
difficulty  in  recognising  the  land-snails  as  being  very 
like  the  periwinkle,  only  breathing  by  air  instead  of 
by  water.  The  way  this  is  done  is  very  simple.  If 
you  watch  a  snail  when  its  head  is  out  of  its  shell, 
you  will  see  a  little  slit  opening  and  shutting  steadily 
in  the  top  of  the  neck,  and  through  this  hole  air  is 
passing  into  a  closed  chamber  made  by  a  fold  of 
the  mantle.  The  walls  of  this  chamber  are  covered 
with  a  network  of  blood-vessels,  through  which  the 
blood  flows,  taking  oxygen  this  time  from  the  air 
instead  of  from  water.  By  this  simple  arrangement 
the  snail,  no  longer  confined  to  the  sea  and  rivers,  is 
able  to  spread  over  the  fields,  and  woods,  and  gar- 
dens, feeding  on  the  delicate  juicy  leaves  of  plants, 
on  mosses,  and  fungi,  and  all  the  rich  vegetation  of 
the  country.  But  it  has  many  dangers,  for  birds  and 
hedgehogs,  and  even  insects,  prey  upon  it  greedily. 
Therefore  it  feeds  chiefly  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  ; 
while  it  has  sharp  eyes  (e,  Fig.  46)  set  upon  long  stalks, 
which  can  see  on  all  sides  when  it  is  out  of  its  shell. 

Now  in  order  to  retire  safely  into  its  shell,  it  must 
be  able  to  draw  in  these  eyes,  and  also  the  two  ten- 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          121 

tacles  or  feelers  below,  and  here  we  find  a  beautiful 
machinery.  If  you  watch  a  snail  drawing  in  its 
horns  you  will  see  that  the  eye  disappears  down  the 
tube,  just  as  the  tip  of  a  glove-finger  does,  when  you 
draw  it  down  from  inside  the  glove.  These  horns 
are  in  fact  hollow  tubes,  and  a  special  muscle  pulls 
them  in  from  the  top  downwards,  and  when  the  eye 
is  wanted  again,  it  is  only  necessary  for  the  muscles 
round  the  tube  to  contract,  and  so  to  squeeze  the  tip 
gradually  out. 

Most  of  the  land-snails  have  lost  the  horny  door, 
not  having  any  need  for  it ;  but  in  winter,  when  they 
sleep  without  food  in  the  cracks  of  old  walls,  under 
the  bark  of  trees,  and  in  other  sheltered  spots,  they 
pour  out  a  layer  of  slime,  which  hardens  and  shuts 
them  into  their  shell  till  spring  returns. 

Slugs  (C,  Fig.  46),  on  the  other  hand,  bury  them- 
selves in  the  ground  for  winter  safety.  At  first  sight 
you  might  imagine  that  a  slug  had  no  shell  at  all, 
but  if  you  examine  carefully  you  will  find  a  small 
shell  (s)  under  its  black  skin,  just  behind  the  neck, 
and  the  small  breathing  hole  (b}  at  the  side  will  show 
you  that  this  shell  covers  the  breathing  organs.  This 
is  in  fact  the  only  part  of  a  slug's  body  which  is 
covered  by  the  mantle,  and  if  you  alarm  him  you 
will  see  him  draw  his  head  in  under  it,  as  though  he 
expected  it  to  shield  him  from  danger.  No  doubt 
the  absence  of  a  large  shell  enables  the  slug  to  creep 
into  many  places  where  a  snail  cannot  go,  and  the 
havoc  worked  by  these  creatures  in  our  gardens 
shows  how  rapidly  and  successfully  they  feed.  The 
great  gray  slug  *  has  a  supply  of  2  8,000  teeth,  so 

*  Limax  maxitnus. 


122  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

that  he  can  use  them  without  scruple  ;  and  if  it 
were  not  for  the  birds  which  devour  both  slugs  and 
snails  at  their  work,  and  some  insects  which  destroy 
their  eggs,  the  whole  land  would  be  eaten  up  by 
them  ;  for  they  hide  their  eggs  so  cunningly  in 
the  roots  of  plants,  in  crevices,  and  well  -  sheltered 
nooks,  that  they  multiply  by  millions. 
Fig.  46. 


Snails  and  Slugs. 

A,  Garden  snail.*     B  B,  Testacella;t  one  disappearing  into  the 
ground,  and  only  the  tail  showing.     C,  The  Great  Gray  Slug.J 
s,  Shell ;  *,  tentacles ;  t,  eyes ;  b,  breathing-hole. 

Yet,  even  kept  down  as  they  are,  there  is  not  vege- 
table food  enough  for  all  kinds,  and  many  feed  on 
*  Helix.  f  Testacella.  J  Limax. 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          123 

other  animals,  as  for  example  the  little  testacella  (B, 
Fig.  46),  a  queer  little  fellow  which  follows  the  worms 
down  into  their  holes,  and  drags  them  down  his 
throat  by  his  rasp  of  barbed  teeth,  so  that  often 
several  worms  may  be  found  torn  and  mangled 
within  his  body.  His  breathing  chamber  has  found 
its  way  nearly  to  the  end  of  his  tail,  so  that  he  can 
breathe  when  the  front  of  his  body  is  buried,  while 
the  little  shell  (s)  which  covers  it  looks  very  comi- 
cal, but  is  useful,  nevertheless,  in  protecting  it  from 
attack  behind. 

All  these  many  forms  of  water-snails,  and  land- 
snails,  and  slugs,  have  taken  possession  of  the  land 
and  its  waters,  and  now  if  we  go  back  to  the  sea  we 
find  that  the  world  has  still  room  for  other  kinds, 
only  they  must  fit  into  gaps  that  are  not  occupied. 
For  wonderfully  beautiful  mantle-covered  creatures 
may  be  found  there  lurking  under  stones  and  in  dark 
corners,  if  a  careful  search  is  made  at  low  tide.  These 
are  commonly  called  "  sea-slugs,"  and  by  scientific 
men  the  "  naked-gilled  "  mollusca,  because  they  have 
no  shell  or  covering  over  their  feather -like  gills 
(«£"«£>  Fig.  47),  but  carry  them  erect  on  their  backs 
like  tufts  of  moss  or  delicate  seaweed.  Yet  in  their 
babyhood  these  naked  animals  lived  in  a  tiny  curled 
shell,  and  swam  about  by  lashes  like  the  young  of  all 
the  stomach-footed  animals,  and  we  can  still  recognise 
their  nationality,  by  their  feathery  gills  and  their 
coiled  rasping  tongue.  Like  the  land-slugs  they  can 
creep  through  many  a  narrow  opening  not  possible 
for  shelled  animals,  and  though  their  eyes  are  not 
powerful  they  have  very  sharp  ears,  a  quick  sense  of 


124 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


touch,  and  sensitive  nerves.  Especially  their  smell 
is  very  acute,  probably  in  order  to  prevent  them  from 
venturing  into  bad  water  where  their  delicate  and 
unprotected  gills  would  be  unable  to  work  well. 
Though  they  are  so  fragile -looking,  yet  they  eat 
ravenously,  feeding  on  young  corals,  sertularias,  and 
sponges,  and  often  digging  a  good  piece  of  flesh  out 
of  a  sea-anemone  with  their  scoop-like  rasp.  Some 

^  Cx^  _  Fie-  47- 


Naked-gilled  Mollusca,  commonly  called  sea-slugs. — Alder  and  Hancock. 

D,  Dsris  pilosa.     E,  Eolis  coronata.    f,  Foot ;  g ,  breathing-gills  ; 

t,  tentacles. 

of  them  are  protected  by  spicules  set  in  their  flesh, 
but  most  of  them  are  very  tender,  and  escape  obser- 
vation by  the  wonderful  resemblance  of  their  colours 
to  those  of  the  seaweed  over  which  they  wander  ;  and 
whether  floating,  or  hanging  by  slimy  threads,  or 
crawling  with  their  beautiful  plumes  outspread,  they 
select  chiefly  the  dark  sheltered  spots  neglected  by 
the  hardier  children  of  Life. 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS. 


125 


And  now  that  the  sea-shore,  the  ponds,  and  the 
rivers  are  overrun  with  stomach-footed  animals,  there 
remains  but  the  wide  ocean.  And  even  there  they 
have  made  their  way,  for  sailors  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
meet  with  the  ocean-snail  (lanthina),  with  its  float 
of  air-cells,  floating  in  myriads  over  the  sea  and 
feeding  on  the  small  jelly-fish,  and  with  the  lovely 

Fig.  48. 


Oceanic  Mollusca. 

I,  lanthina,  the  ocean-snail,  f,  Foot ;  r,  raft  of  air-bubbles,  with 
egg-bags  hanging  down.  C,  Carinaria.*^  Foot ;  s,  shell  covering  the 
breathing-gills,  g ,  both  these  forms  float  upside  down.  P,  Pteropod 
or  wing-footed  snail. 

Carinaria,  whose  foot  has  been  moulded  into  fins 
(/,  C,  Fig.  48)  with  which  it  swims  upside  down  in  the 
water,  its  delicate  shell  serving  to  protect  its  breath- 

*    Carinaria  atlantica. 


126  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

ing-gills  (g).  And  as  the  Carinaria  swims  along 
he  feeds  on  other  and  minute  univalve  animals, 
such  as  the  sea-nymphs  and  wing-footed  snails 
(Pteropods),  which  discolour  the  water  for  miles 
with  their  swarms,  as  they  graze  on  the  floating 
seaweed. 

Life  then  has  spread  her  mantle-covered  children 
far  and  wide  over  sea  and  land,  where  each  by 
different  devices  finds  food  and  shelter.  But  it  is  not 
with  such  tiny  beings  as  these  that  we  are  to  end 
the  history  of  the  mantle-covered  animals  ;  for  lurking 
in  the  holes  and  tide-pools  of  the  sea,  there  are 
much  larger  creatures  with  sac -like  bodies,  green 
staring  eyes,  horny  beaks,  and  waving  arms,  which, 
unlike  as  they  are  to  the  ordinary  shell -animals,  are 
nevertheless  true  mantle-bearers. 

Who  would  imagine,  on  seeing  a  cuttle-fish  with 
its  large  pathetic  eyes,  thrown  up  on  the  sea-shore,  or 
an  octopus  shooting  across  its  tank,  that  these  intelli- 
gent, active  creatures  had  any  connection  with  the 
helpless  oyster  or  timid  periwinkle  ?  Yet  so  it  is  ; 
only  while  the  oyster  is  one  of  the  lower  and  feebler 
forms,  the  cuttle-fish,  the  octopus,  the  argonaut,  and 
the  nautilus,  are  the  monarchs  of  the  mollusca,  pro- 
vided with  as  powerful  weapons  for  their  work  as 
the  dragon-fly  is  among  insects  or  the  tiger  among 
beasts. 

Go  some  day  and  look  at  an  octopus  in  one  of  the 
aquariums.  Its  bag-like  body  appears  to  be  a  mere 
mass  of  flesh  ;  yet  it  has  really  a  most  complicated 
internal  structure,  and  a  gristly  framework  more  like 
a  true  skeleton  than  any  other  animal  without  a  back- 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS. 


127 


bone.  Its  mantle  covers  the  body  and  forms  a  ring 
round  the  neck,  often  fitting  so  closely  that  its  edge 
can  only  be  seen  where  there  is  a  hole  for  taking  in 
water.  In  a  fold  of  this  mantle  are  hidden  the  gills, 
and  a  short  funnel  (si,  Fig.  49)  sticking  out  of  its  neck 
is  a  tube  for  shooting  out  the  refuse  water  which  has 
been  taken  in  at  the  mantle-rim.  Here  we  have  the 
secret  of  the  rapid  movements  of  the  octopus,  for,  by 
taking  in  a  supply  of  water  at  the  rim  of  his  mantle 
and  sending  it  out  in  jets  through  the  funnel,  he  shoots 


Octopus  shooting  backwards  through  the  water. 
si,  Siphon ;  a,  arms  ;  s,  suckers  on  the  arms ;  e,  a  bunch  of  eggs 
of  the  octopus. 

himself  backwards  just  as  a  boat  is  sent  through  the 
water  by  a  stroke  of  the  oar.  Nay,  more,  if  he  is 
flying  away  from  an  enemy  he  has  an  additional 
mode  of  defence,  for  within  his  body  is  a  gland  which 
secretes  an  inky  fluid,  and  this  he  squirts  out  through 
the  funnel,  making  a  thick  dark  cloud  behind  him 
which  baffles  his  pursuer  at  the  same  time  that  it 
helps  himself  to  dart  away. 


128  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

"  Th'  endangered  mollusk  thus  evades  his  fears, 
And  native  hoards  of  fluid  safety  wears. 
A  pitchy  ink  peculiar  glands  supply, 
Whose  shades  the  sharpest  beam  of  light  defy. 
Pursued  he  bids  the  sable  fountain  flow, 
And  wrapt  in  clouds  eludes  the  impending  foe." 

Fishermen  assert,  and  Mr.  Darwin  and  others  confirm 
their  opinion,  that  the  octopus  and  cuttle-fish  often 
take  deliberate  aim  at  an  enemy  when  they  squirt  out 
this  unpleasant  fountain. 

But  the  chief  and  most  powerful  weapons  of  the 
octopus  are  his  so-called  arms  and  his  horny  beak. 
Just  below  his  large  penetrating  eyes  is  spread  out  a 
crown  of  eight  long  tapering  ribands  (a,  Fig.  49),  and 
these  are,  in  fact,  his  foot,  answering  to  that  crumpled 
muscular  disk  upon  which  the  snail  walks.  In  the 
octopus  this  foot  has  grown  round  the  neck  and  then 
divided  up  into  segments,  and  for  this  reason  he  and 
the  cuttle-fish  and  nautilus  are  called  head-footed  ani- 
mals (Cephalopoda}.  The  foot  of  the  cuttles  has  ten 
segments  instead  of  eight,  and  two  are  nearly  three 
times  as  long  as  the  others. 

Now  watch  the  octopus  lurking  in  the  rockwork  of 
the  tank,  his  round  body  squeezed  into  some  nook, 
and  his  arms,"*  some  grasping  the  rock,  others  flapping 
idly  in  the  water.  If  a  large  fish  or  crab  pass  by 
instantly  he  is  on  the  alert ;  the  arms  in  the  water,  no 
longer  listless,  dart  out  and  fasten  on  the  luckless 
animal,  which  is  dragged  in  to  the  strong  beak  stand- 
ing out  in  the  centre  of  the  arms  and  crunched  in  a 
moment,  even  the  crab's  shell  cracking  like  a  nut, 
while  his  flesh  is  devoured  and  carried  down  into  the 

*  For  so  we  must  call  them,  although  they  are  really  strips  of  his 
foot. 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          129 

stomach  of  the  octopus  by  his  fleshy  tongue  armed 
with  horny  hooks.  But  what  gives  the  arms  of  the 
octopus  such  power  ?  If  you  look  at  the  under 
surface  of  them  you  will  find,  arranged  in  pairs  along 
each  arm,  suckers  (s,  Fig.  49),  large  near  the  mouth 
and  growing  small  as  the  strips  taper  to  a  point,  and 
crowded  so  thickly  that  an  ordinary-sized  octopus 
with  arms  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long  will  have 
nearly  2000  of  them.  Each  of  these  suckers  is  a 
perfect  little  air-pump  with  a  piston  in  the  middle, 
and  the  moment  the  octopus  lays  an  arm  upon  any 
creature,  a  muscle  draws  the  piston  in  each  sucker 
back.  This  causes  it  to  cling  like  a  cupping-glass, 
and  the  more  the  victim  struggles  the  tighter  is  the 
grasp  ;  wnile  the  octopus  holding  by  the  suckers  of 
his  other  arms  to  the  rock  has  a  firmer  and  firmer 
hold  the  stronger  the  resistance. 

One  would  almost  imagine  at  first  sight  that  long 
experience  would  have  taught  the  fishes  and  crabs  to 
keep  out  of  the  way  of  such  a  monster ;  but  the 
octopus  has  another,  and  almost  unfair,  advantage. 
He  carries  in  his  transparent  skin  cells  of  colour, 
yellow,  blue,  red,  and  brown,  and  has  the  power,  like 
the  chameleon,  of  changing  colour  and  assuming  the 
tint  of  the  rock  under  which  he  hides. 

"New  forms  they  take,  and  wear  a  borrowed  dress, 
Mock  the  true  stone,  and  colours  well  express. 
As  the  rock  looks  they  take  a  different  stain — 
Dappled  with  gray,  or  blanch  the  livid  vein." 

By  this  means  he  not  only  lies  safely  in  wait  to 
pounce  upon  his  prey,  but  may  himself  escape  the 
notice  of  the  dolphins  or  the  conger  eels,  which  are 


130  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

too  strong  for  him  to  conquer,  and  who  in  their  turn 
feed  on  his  fleshy  arms. 

With  such  advantages  and  weapons  of  attack,  can 
we  wonder  that  not  only  the  octopus  but  also  his 
ten-armed  relations,  the  cuttles  and  the  squids,  are 
to  be  found  of  different  sizes  and  kinds  all  over  the 
sea  ?  There  is  the  little  Sepiola,  often  caught  off  our 
coasts  in  the  nets  of  the  shrimpers,  whose  body  is 
only  about  half  an  inch  long,  with  small  flaps  or  fins 
on  the  sides.  He,  like  the  cuttle-fish,  so  far  clings  to 
the  old  habits  of  the  mollusca  as  to  form  a  long  thin 
shell  on  his  back  under  his  mantle  ;  and  this  shell  we 
call  a  "  pen  "  when  we  find  it  on  the  shore  because  it 
is  shaped  like  one.  He  makes  himself  a  shelter  by 
blowing  a  hole  in  the  sand  with  jets  of  water  from 
his  funnel,  and  uses  the  suckers  of  his  arms  to 
remove  and  arrange  the  small  stones.  Then  he  sits 
in  his  hole,  with  his  large  goggle  eyes  peering  out,  - 
and  catches  the  shrimps  and  smaller  crabs  as  they 
pass  by.  There  is  the  common  cuttle-fish  which 
forms  in  its  mantle  the  white  chalky  shell  known 
as  the  "  cuttle -bone."  It  generally  floats  about  or 
creeps  over  the  bottom  of  rocky  pools  ;  till  fright- 
ened, or,  wishing  to  attack  some  animal,  it  shoots 
out  suddenly  a  jet  from  its  funnel  and  flies  back- 
wards through  the  water,  clutching  its  prey  on  the 
road.  The  dark  horny  grape -like  bunches  which 
we  find  on  the  shore  are  the  eggs  of  the  cuttle- 
fish. There  are  the  Calamaries,  whose  shell  is  a 
horjiy  "  pen,"  and  some  of  which  living  in  the  open 
ocean  have  sharp  hooks  in  the  centre  of  their 
suckers,  making  cruel  weapons  of  attack  against 
the  unfortunate  fish,  who  have  the  sharp  hooks 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          131 

planted  in  their  flesh  and  held  fast  by  the  cups 
around  them. 

Then  there  is  our  friend  the  Octopus  with  his  body 
squeezed  between  the  rocks  and  nothing  but  his  bright, 
gleaming  eyes  to  betray  him,  while  his  wife  in  another 
sheltered  nook  is  watching  over  her  eggs  (e,  Fig.  49) 
arranged  in  clusters  on  a  stalk  like  a  huge  catkin 
of  a  nut-tree.  A  loving  mother  she  is,  sometimes 
dandling  the  eggs  in  the  hollow  web  of  her  arms  or 
cleaning  them  by  spouting  water  from  her  funnel 
over  them,  as  a  gardener  washes  his  plants  with  a 
hose.  Week  after  week  she  will  watch  them,  for 
though  they  do  not  need  hatching,  yet  if  she  did 
not  keep  them  clean  they  would  be  addled  by  living 
things  growing  over  them  ;  then  as  each  little  bag 
bursts  a  tiny  perfect  octopus  about  the  size  of  a  flea 
darts  out,  uses  his  funnel  at  once,  and  frolics  to  and 
fro  in  the  water,  his  body  blushing  now  with  one 
colour  and  now  with  another. 

In  our  seas  an  octopus  scarcely  ever  has  arms 
more  than  two  feet  long,  and  a  body  about  the  size 
of  an  ordinary  lemon ;  but  in  the  Mediterranean  they 
have  been  caught  with  arms  four  feet  long  and  are 
Yiuch  dreaded  by  the  bathers,  and  in  the  British 
Tuseum  there  is  an  arm  of  a  Calamary  nine  feet 
.n  length,  so  that  the  creature  which  carried  it  and 
which  probably  lived  on  the  coasts  of  South  America, 
must  have  been  formidable  indeed. 

But  if  there  are  ugly  and  dangerous  "head-footed" 
inimals,  there  are  among  them  two  lovely  forms. 
The  Argonaut,  though  she  does  not  really  sail  on  the 
water  with  her  two  arms  raised  as  sails,  as  the  poets 
imagined,  yet  forms  such  a  lovely  cradle  for  her  eggs, 
Y 


i3«  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

which  she  carries  with  her,  that  it  makes  her  a  "thing 
of  beauty  "  as  she  drives  herself  backwards  through 
the  water.  The  shell-bearing  Argonaut  is  the  mother, 
for  the  father  is  like  an  ordinary  octopus  and  has  no 
covering ;  and  indeed  that  which  the  mother  carries 

Fig.  50 


The  Mother  Argonaut  floating  in  the  water.* — Verany.     e,  Eggs. 

is  not  a  true  shell,  but  a  chalky  nest  built  up  by  the 
ends  of  two  of  her  arms,  which  are  spread  out  into 
broad  webs  and  folded  back  over  her  body  where 
they  lay  down  that  beautiful  delicate  film  of  lime, 
the  "Argonaut  shell."  Under  this  shell,  still  keep- 
ing it  covered  with  her  arms,  she  places  her  bunches 
of  eggs,  and  stretching  out  the  other  six  arms,  can  fly 
backwards  through  the  water  carrying  her  brood  with 
her,  or  can,  like  the  cuttle-fish,  float  quietly  or  creep 
along  the  bottom. 

But  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  shell  of  all  is  that 

*  When  in  rapid  movement  the  arms  are  in  a  straight  line,  as  in  the 
Octopus  (Fig   49). 


THE  MANTLE-COVERED  ANIMALS.          133 

of  the  Nautilus,  which,  it  must  be  remembered,  is 
totally  different  from  the  Argonaut  shell,  being  the 
animal's  real  home  and  not  a  mere  nest.  The 
Nautilus  is  different  in  many  ways  from  the  octopus 
and  the  cuttle.  He  has  four  breathing  gills  instead 
of  two  ;  his  eyes  are  much  less  perfect  than  those  of 
the  other  head-footed  animals ;  he  has  no  ink-bag,  for 
having  a  strong  protecting  shell  he  has  less  need  for 
it;  and  he  has  no  suckers  on  his  feet.  He  is  the  last 
remnant  of  a  once  great  family,  that  of  the  huge 
Ammonites  and  Nautiluses,  which  we  find  buried  in 
the  rocks  of  ages  past ;  and,  like  many  a  remnant 
of  a  once  noble  race,  living  retired  in  their  own 
domain  while  younger  and  less  sensitive  branches 
are  fighting  their  way  to  eminence  in  the  world,  the 
nautilus  creeps  in  the  shallow  waters  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  or  floats  about  when  all  is  still,  but  hides 
himself  persistently  from  view,  and  has  very  rarely 
been  seen  alive.  He  builds  his  beautiful  and  refined 
house  chamber  by  chamber,  deserting  one  after 
another  as  he  grows  too  large  for  them,  and  leaving 
only  a  thin  tube  through  the  middle,  by  which  he  is 
supposed  to  fill  the  shell  with  air  when  he  wishes 
to  float. 

"Year  after  year  beheld  the  silent  toil 
That  spread  his  lustrous  coil  ; 
Still,  as  the  spiral  grew 
He  left  the  past  year's  dwelling  for  the  new, 
Stole  with  soft  step  its  shining  archway  through, 
Built  up  its  idle  door, 
Stretched  in  his  last-found  home,  and  knew  the  old  no  more. " 

He  allows  very  few,  however,  to  investigate  his 
habits :  wrapped  in  his  proud  reserve  he  lives  his 
solitary  life,  and  it  is  only  after  his  death  that  his 


134  LIFE  A\D  HER  CHILDREN. 

beautiful  shell  with  its  pearly  chambers  is  found  and 
brought  to  decorate  our  homes. 

And  here  we  must  take  leave  of  the  mantle- 
covered  animals.  We  have  followed  them,  though 
very  imperfectly,  from  the  "poor  patient  oyster," 
through  their  gradual  rise  in  power  ;  till  we  leave 
them  as  dreaded  conquerors,  in  the  sharp -beaked 
octopus  and  the  terribly  armed  calamary.  We  might, 
if  we  had  ventured  on  the  dangerous  sea  of  conjecture, 
have  started  still  earlier,  and  linked  their  simpler  forms 
to  those  of  the  lower  worms.  But  till  more  is  known, 
this  course  might  have  led  us  astray,  and  it  is  safer 
to  content  ourselves  with  marking  how  life  has 
gradually  filled  the  ocean  and  the  land  with  specially 
fitted  forms  of  mollusca,  having  all  a  distinctive 
nationality  which  separates  them  from  the  other 
divisions  of  Life's  children  ;  so  that  the  octopus,  the 
cuttle-fish,  and  the  nautilus,  stand  as  undoubtedly  at 
the  head  of  one  great  plan  of  animal  life,  as  the  ants 
do  at  the  head  of  the  insects,  or  man  at  the  head  of 
the  vertebrates.  We  shall  now  have  to  hark  back 
again,  and  in  inquiring  of  the  worm  whence  he 
comes,  and  how  he  lives,  start  on  a  totally  different 
track,  which  will  lead  both  by  land  and  water, 
through  the  forms  of  the  shrimp,  and  crab,  and 
lobster,  to  the  aerial  and  fairy -like  insects  which 
form  so  large  a  portion  of  the  life  upon  our  globe. 


INSECT    LIFE. 

(for  description  see  list  of"  illustrations.) 


THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  135 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE,  AND  THE 
ELASTIC-RINGED  ANIMALS  BY  SEA  AND  BY  LAND. 

"  And  ever  at  the  loom  of  Birth 

The  Mighty  Mother  weaves  and  sings ; 
She  weaves — fresh  robes  for  mangled  earth  ; 
She  sings— fresh  hopes  for  desperate  things." 

KlNGSLEY. 

E  have  now  traced  the  history  of 
four  out  of  the  seven  divisions 
of  animal  life,  and  have  seen  how 
each,  by  taking  a  different  road, 
has  managed  to  get  a  footing  for  its 
members  in  various  nooks  and  spaces 
in  the  world.  We  must  next  try  to 
gain  some  idea  of  that  small  fifth 
division  containing  the  Worms  ;  in 
which  is  shadowed  forth,  as  it  were, 
that  ringed  structure  which  we  shall 
find  so  remarkable  in  the  sixth  and 
largest  division  which  follows.  But, 
before  arriving  at  the  true  ringed 
worms,  we  must  pause  for  a  moment 
to  glance  at  that  curious,  wandering,  and  outcast 
population  of  our  globe,  which,  finding  no  shelter  in 
the  earth,  or  sea,  or  air,  have  taken  up  their  abode 
within  their  fellow-creatures  and  live  upon  them. 


136  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

Although  we  have  as  yet  studied  only  the  lowest, 
and  by  no  means  the  most  numerous  of  Life's 
children,  yet  we  begin  to  see  that  our  earth  is  full, 
very  full,  of  life,  and  that  the  creatures  in  it  are 
jostling  each  other,  and  driving  into  dark  and 
dismal  corners  those  which  cannot  get  a  living  in 
the  open  sunshine.  Millions  serve  as  food  for 
others,  and  millions  die  a  speedy  death  from  want 
of  space  and  food  ;  but  we  cannot  expect  that  any 
will  give  up  their  lives  while  they  can  find  a  means 
of  struggling  on.  What  way  is  there,  beyond  those 
which  we  have  found  already  ? 

There  is  still  the  novel  device  of  a  creature  find- 
ing shelter  by  making  another  living  being  carry  it, 
and  of  obtaining  food  by  making  another  living 
being  nourish  it.  And  so  we  find  that  among  the 
low  forms  of  many  classes  of  animals  there  are 
always  some  which  prey  upon  their  neighbours,  just 
as  in  our  great  cities  there  are  always  some  of  the 
most  degraded  and  miserable — our  street  Arabs  and 
our  thieves — who  live  on  refuse  and  plunder. 

And  this  is  true  to  such  a  large  extent  in  the 
animal  world,  that  there  is  probably  scarcely  a  single 
creature  that  does  not  carry  many  other  creatures 
upon  or  within  its  body. 

Some  of  these  merely  come  to  it  for  shelter,  as, 
for  example,  the  tiny  pea-crab,  which  is  constantly 
found  living  in  the  shell  of  the  horse-mussel,  catching 
its  own  food,  and  being  probably  rather  helpful  than 
otherwise  to  the  mussel,  by  leaving  him  the  scraps 
of  his  meal.  Others,  such  as  ticks  and  water-mites, 
fix  themselves  on  the  bodies,  the  one  of  sheep  and 
dogs,  the  other  of  water-beetles,  and  sucking  the 


THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  137 

blood  of  their  hosts,  find  both  food  and  shelter. 
And  others,  finding  no  place  for  them  at  all  in  the 
outer  world,  burrow  into  the  very  body  of  their 
victim,  and  feed  upon  the  soft  parts  within. 

Among  these  last,  the  greater  number  are  a  low 
race  of  soft-bodied  worms,  whose  ancestors,  when  the 
other  forms  of  life — the  star- fish,  mollusca,  ringed 
animals,  and  insects — found  new  ways  of  gaining 
their  livelihood,  remained  behind,  groping  in  the 
mud  and  sand  of  rivers  and  seas,  and  flapping  about 
by  the  broad  margins  of  their  flat  bodies.  Some  of 
the  descendants  of  these  soft-bodied  worms  still 
manage  to  live  a  free  and  independent  life.  One 
set  called  the  wheel-worms,*  because  of  the  curious 
whirling  appearance  of  their  lashes  as  they  swim 
about,  may  be  seen  under  the  microscope  in  almost 
any  stagnant  water.  Another  group,  with  tiny  red 
eye -specks,  and  a  trumpet -shaped  mouth  in  the 
middle  of  their  bodies,!  live  on  the  sea-shore  or  in 
ditches,  and  may  be  found  as  little  jelly-lumps  upon 
water-cresses  before  they  have  been  washed.  An- 
other set,!  known  as  the  "  ribbon-worms,"  with  elastic 
bodies  which  stretch  sometimes  to  an  enormous 
length,  are  armed  with  a  tiny  dagger  in  the  head, 
with  which  they  pierce  the  soft  bodies  of  animals 
and  suck  out  their  juices.  One  of  these  called  the 
long-worm^  which  looks  like  a  dark  strip  of  india- 
rubber  as  it  lies  coiled  up  under  stones  on  the  shore, 
has  been  known  to  be  as  much  as  twenty  feet  long, 
though  only  as  broad  as  the  blade  of  a  pen-knife. 

These  are  the  more  fortunate  of  the  soft-worms 
which  have  found  a  place  in  the  outside  world  ;  but 

*  Rotifera.      t  Planaria.       J  Nemerteans.      §  Nemertes  borlasia. 


138  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

there  are  others  which,  unable  to  get  a  living  in 
the  mud  and  sand,  were  forced  to  work  their  way 
into  the  bodies  of  snails,  caterpillars,  or  grubs,  and 
now  make  them  their  natural  home.  Unpleasant 
as  it  may  be  to  think  of  these  parasites,  yet  when 
we  look  at  the  question  from  their  point  of  view, 
they  are  after  all  only  doing  their  best  to  get 
a  living,  and  they  have  many  curious  weapons  to 
help  them  in  doing  it,  nor  do  they  always  injure  the 
animal  upon  which  they  live,  unless  they  are  in  great 
numbers. 

Thus,  for  example,  one  of  the  flukes,*  a  minute 
flat -worm  shaped  like  a  tiny  flounder,  has  a  most 
strange  succession  of  changes  in  its  life.  Firstly, 
The  mother  lives  within  the  intestines  of  some 
water-bird,  holding  on  firmly  to  her  host  by  two 
rows  of  tiny  hooks  round  her  head,  while  her  mouth 
is  firmly  applied  like  a  sucker ;  secondly,  the  eggs 
are  thrown  out  and  fall  into  the  water  or  moist  mud, 
and  out  of  them  comes,  thirdly,  the  embryo  or 
imperfect  animal,  surrounded  with  lashes ;  but  it 
does  not  long  remain  free,  for  out  of  it  again  comes 
a  fourth  form,  a  small  bag-like  animal,  which  at  once 
seeks  out  a  water-snail  (Paludind)  and  clings  to  it. 
Nor  are  the  transformations  yet  ended.  Within  this 
hanging  sac,  which  is  called  the  "  nurse  "  of  the  fluke, 
there  appear,  fifthly,  a  number  of  little  tailed  ani- 
mals like  tadpoles,  and  by  and  by  the  nurse  bursts, 
and  all  these  little  creatures  come  swimming  out 
once  more  free  in  the  water.  But  the  snail  is  not 
rid  of  them  ;  either  upon  her  or  upon  some  other 
snail  like  her>  a  number  of  these  little  creatures  fix 

*  Distoma  militare. 


THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  139 

themselves,  and  each  one  boring  into  her  foot,  drops 
off  its  tail,  and  forming  a  transparent  bag  round  its 
body,  begins  to  grow  a  crown  of  hooklets.  In  this 
state  it  remains  till  the  snail,  gobbled  up  by  some 
water-bird,  passes  into  its  stomach,  and  there  the 
gastric  juice,  digesting  the  snail,  dissolves  the  bag, 
and  at  last  the  fluke  becomes  a  perfect  animal  again, 
fixing  itself  by  hooks  and  suckers  in  the  same  kind 
of  home  from  which  its  mother  came. 

And  now  consider  what  a  number  of  chances 
occur  to  this  animal  during  its  short  life,  any  of  which 
may  destroy  it.  Their  eggs  are  not  placed  in  a  fit 
spot  by  a  careful  mother,  but  fall  wherever  the  bird 
may  chance  to  drop  them,  and  twice  in  their  lives 
they  have  to  find  a  snail  in  which  alone  they  can  live 
and  grow.  Many  fail,  and  clinging  to  stones  or 
weeds,  die  for  want  of  their  home.  And  even  if  they 
succeed  in  these  first  attempts,  the  last  step  of  all  is 
entirely  out  of  their  control,  for  unless  they  are  car- 
ried down  the  throat  of  the  water-bird,  they  can 
never  grow  and  lay  eggs.  But  they  exist  in  such 
myriads  that  this  is  of  no  consequence  to  the  race. 
You  can  scarcely  cut  open  any  snail  without  finding 
some  of  these  curious  creatures  within  it,  different 
species  living  in  different  snails  ;  and  in  most  cases 
the  worm  must  pass  into  another  animal  to  become 
complete.  The  liver-fluke  of  the  sheep  for  example, 
which  causes  the  "rot"  when  too  abundant,  lives  its 
early  life  in  a  snail,  which  is  licked  up  by  the  sheep 
as  they  eat  the  damp  grass. 

The  bladder-worm,  however,  which  gets  into  the 
brain  of  the  sheep,  and  causes  it  to  hang  its  head, 
belongs  to  another  and  perhaps  more  dangerous 


HO  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

tribe.  These  are  the  so-called  "  tape-worms  "  which 
can  only  grow  to  their  full  strength  in  warm-blooded 
animals,  and  are  armed  with  both  hooks  and  suckers 
on  the  head.  Now,  while  the  front  part  of  this  head 
is  firmly  fixed,  buds  are  given  off  continually  from 
the  other  end,  making  a  long  tail  with  many  joints, 
each  of  which  carries  eggs,  and  often  has  its  own 
separate  suckers  and  hooks  to  hold  firmly  to  its  host. 
These  creatures  have  no  mouths  or  stomachs,  but 
take  in  the  fluid  food  all  over  their  body  as  it  passes 
by  them  on  its  way  through  the  animal  they  inhabit. 
Tape-worms  wander  just  as  flukes  do,  thus  the  tape- 
worm of  the  dog  begins  its  life  in  the  sheep,  that  of 
the  cat  lives  first  in  the  mouse,  that  of  the  fox  in  the 
hare  or  rabbit,  that  of  the  water-bird  in  the  fish. 

Nor  is  it  only  flat -worms  which  have  become 
parasites  ;  the  little  wriggling  round  worms  live,  many 
of  them,  in  the  grubs  of  beetles  and  insects,  and  from 
these  pass  on  into  the  bodies  of  rats  and  mice, 
squirrels  and  birds,  or  fishes.  The  little  thread-worm 
MermiSy  for  example,  as  soon  as  it  is  hatched  in  the 
moist  earth  in  spring  time,  uses  a  sharp  dagger 
hidden  in  its  head  to  pierce  a  road  for  itself  into  the 
body  of  a  grub,  and  lives  upon  its  juices  till  either 
the  caterpillar  becomes  a  butterfly,  or  is  eaten,  or 
the  mermis  is  ready  to  lay  her  eggs,  and  then  she 
pierces  her  way  out  again  to  lay  her  young  in  the 
soft  earth. 

Another  little  round  worm  hangs  on  by  its  suckers 
inside  the  throat  of  the  chicken,  givingit  the  "  gapes," 
which  can  be  cured  if  the  worm  is  brushed  out  with 
a  feather ;  while  the  Trichina  so  dangerous  in  half- 
raw  pork  or  ham,  is  another  round  worm,  living  in 


THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  141 

the  muscles  of  the  pig.  All  these,  and  hundreds 
of  forms  like  them,  belong  to  that  wandering  band 
of  outcasts,  which  have  been  driven  from  the  face  of 
the  earth  to  feed  upon  the  strength  of  others.  They 
are  not  a  pleasant  band,  but  they  teach  us  most 
surely  the  truth  that  the  children  of  Life  are  sown 
broadcast  over  the  earth,  to  make  the  utmost  use  of 
it  that  can  be  made.  We  have  even  examples  where 
a  parasite  upon  some  animal  has  another  parasite 
within  it ;  as  when  by  cutting  open  a  snail,  worms 
are  found  within,  and  these  worms  when  cut  open 
are  found  to  be  the  home  of  some  tiny  infusorian  or 
slime  animal,  so  that  even  within  the  body  of  one 
animal  we  have  a  little  world  of  life. 

Another  truth  it  teaches  us  which  we  have  noticed 
before  ;  namely,  that  where  a  creature  has  little  use  for 
its  powers,  these  diminish  and  it  becomes  degraded 
and  feeble  ;  for  the  parasitic  worms,  with  their  low 
structure,  their  want  of  eyes  and  ears,  and  often  of 
mouths  and  stomachs,  are  most  of  them  poor  miser- 
able creatures  at  best.  Yet  still  we  find  even  here 
that  each  must  do  some  work.  The  most  shiftless 
of  worms  passed  on  passively  from  one  animal  to 
another,  must  find  its  way  to  the  liver,  or  the  muscle, 
or  the  intestine  which  is  its  natural  home ;  and  in 
the  hooks  and  suckers,  and  daggers  so  admirably 
fitted  for  opening  a  path,  and  clinging  firmly  when 
the  right  spot  is  found,  we  see  a  proof  that  even 
these  poor  debased-  parasites  have  acquired  some 
weapons  in  the  struggle  for  life. 

But  we  must  not  stop  here  in  our  history  of  the 
worm  tribe,  for  these  parasites  have  distant  relations 


H2  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

of  a  far  higher  structure,  who  have  managed  to  gain 
a  much  better  position  in  the  world.  In  each  of  our 
groups  of  animal  life  we  have  found  some  special 
advantage  which  has  enabled  them  to  spread  their 
children  over  the  world  ;  the  sponges  had  their 
co-operative  life  and  their  protecting  skeletons,  the 
lasso-throwers  their  poisonous  weapons,  the  prickly- 
skinned  animals  their  tube  feet  and  stony  casing,  the 
mollusca  their  wonder-working  mantle,  but  among 
them  all  we  have  not  yet  met  with  that  power  of 
moving  quickly,  without  which  no  creature  is  ever 
very  intelligent.  It  is  true  that  the  octopus  can 
shoot  rapidly  through  the  water,  and  is  at  the  same 
time  the  most  intelligent  animal  we  have  yet  learned 
to  know ;  but  its  quick  movements  are  all  in  the 
water  ;  when  it  scrambles  along  the  shore  it  is  slow 
and  awkward,  while  the  other  crawlers,  the  sluggish 
snail  or  the  creeping  star-fish,  are  not  any  more  rapid. 
And  yet  it  is  clear  that  the  power  of  getting  quickly 
over  the  ground  must  be  an  advantage  in  the  struggle 
for  life,  and  we  shall  see  that  it  is  this  power  and 
the  intelligence  accompanying  it  which  has  raised 
the  most  advanced  animals  in  the  sixth  division  to 
such  a  high  position  as  that  of  the  bee  and  the  ant. 

Nothing,  however,  is  learnt  in  a  moment,  and 
therefore  you  must  not  be  surprised  that  the  worm 
and  the  leech,  which  you  would  probably  consider 
rather  slow  animals,  are  the  first  'examples  of  the 
more  active  creatures.  Nevertheless,  if  you  could 
start  either  of  these  animals  on  a  fair  race  with  a 
snail,  though  they  might  not  appear  to  hurry  yet 
you  would  find  they  would  beat  him  hollow.  The 
accompanying  picture  is  one  given  by  Sir  Emerson 


THE  OUTCASTS  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


143 


Tennent  of  the  land-leeches  as  he  saw  them  in  the 
low  ranges  of  the  hill  country  of  Ceylon.  He  tells  us 
that  these  little  leeches,  about  an  inch  long,  fixing 
themselves  by  their  tail  suckers,  raise  their  heads  in 
the  grass  to  watch  for  passers  by,  and  as  soon  as 
they  see  man  or  beast  they  start  off.  Now  stretched 
out  at  full  length,  now  drawing  up  the  hind  sucker 
so  as  to  form  a  loop,  then  forward  again,  they  ad- 
vance at  an  astonishing  pace  till  they  reach  their 


Land-Leeches  of  Ceylon  *  racing  to  attack  some  creature. 

victim,  when  they  cling  to  ankle  or  leg,  or  even  if 
these  are  protected  are  soon  up  at  the  neck,  where 
they  hang  in  groups  like  bunches  of  grapes,  as  their 
skins  swell  out  with  their  meal. 

Now,  if  we  wish  to  learn  the  secret  of  the  leech 
and  how  he  can  move  so  fast,  we  must  look  for  it  in  two 
things.  I  st,  in  the  muscles  by  means  of  which  he  moves 
his  ringed  body  ;  and  2dly,  in  the  chain  of  nerves 
which  give  the  order  for  the  muscles  to  move.  He 
has  three  layers  of  muscle  in  his  skin — in  the  first, 
nearest  the  outside,  the  fibres  run  round  and  round 
the  body  in  rings,  in  the  second  they  cross  each 

*  Hamadipsa  Ceylonica,  Sir  E.  Tennent,  Ceylon,  vol.  ii. 


144 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Fig-  52; 


other  making  a  diamond -shaped  lattice -work  like  a 
netted  purse,  in  the  third  they  run  along  the  body 
from  head  to  foot.  When  the 
leech  wishes  to  lengthen  his  body 
he  contracts  the  round  rings  and 
so  forces  the  long  cords  to  stretch, 
making  himself  long  and  thin  ; 
when  he  wishes  to  shorten  his 
body  he  contracts  the  long  cords 
and  forces  out  the  rings,  making 
himself  short  and  stout,  while  the 
criss-cross  muscles  help  to  modify 
these  movements. 

So  much  for  the  muscles,  and 
now  for  the  telegraph  which  go- 
verns  them.  If  you  were  to  lay  a 
dead  leech  on  its  back  and  open  it, 
you  would  see  running  from  end 
to  end  of  its  body  a  white  cord  (c) 
with  little  swellings  of  white  mat- 
ter (g)  at  intervals  upon  it,  and 
from  these  swellings  very  fine 
white  threads  (n)  are  seen  branch- 

After  Moqvin-Tandon.      ing  out  into  the  body.     The  Cord 
Section  of  a  Leech  *  to     .  j        r  ^i          j       v 

show  the  nerve-cord  c,    ls  made  of  nerve-threads  clinging 
with  the  ganglia  or  knots    closely    together,   and    is    so    to 

*££T?L££   sPeak  the  line  of  tekg-aph;  ** 

off  from  them ;  j,  walls    swellings  are  masses  of  nervous 
of  segments  of  the  body ;    matter  called  ganglia,  and  are  the 

A  pockets  of  slime.  , 

telegraphic  stations ;  the  white 
threads  are  simple  nerves  carrying  messages  to  the 
muscles  ;  while  round  the  neck  of  the  leech  is  a  collar 

*  Hirudo  medicinalis. 


ELASTIC-RINGED  ANIMALS.  145 

of  nerves  with  two  large  ganglia^  the  head  telegraph 
offices.  Now,  it  is  this  system  of  nerves  which  enables 
the  leech  to  give  orders  to  its  muscles  so  rapidly, 
and  throughout  all  the  ringed  animals  this  same 
system  is  found  growing  more  and  more  perfect  up 
to  the  ants. 

When  the  leech  is  alive  and  uninjured,  all  the 
telegraphic  stations  work  together,  and  you  will  notice 
that  in  the  middle  of  the  body,  which  is  divided  into 
segments  (s),  each  has  its  own  station  or  ganglion, 
and  though  all  these  usually  work  together,  yet  each 
segment  is  so  active  that  if  the  cord  is  cut  in  half  in 
the  middle,  the  stations  in  the  tail  end  of  the  leech 
will  work  on  their  own  account  and  the  two  halves 
will  often  try  to  pull  different  ways.  We  see  then 
that  we  have  here  a  very  powerful  machine,  and  when 
we  remember  that  the  leech  has  eight  or  ten  simple 
eyes  set  in  its  back  near  the  head,  and  two  strong 
suckers  to  cling  with,  within  one  of  which  is  a  mouth 
armed  with  three  saw-like  jaws  which  can  easily  pierce 
the  skin  of  its  victim,  already  made  tight  by  the 
sucker,  we  can  understand  that  he  is  well  fitted  for  the 
battle  of  life.  He  is  essentially  an  aquatic-breathing 
animal ;  and  though  he  can  live  for  some  time  out 
of  the  water,  he  can  only  do  so  in  very  damp  air, 
and  his  body  is  always  covered  with  slime  which 
oozes  out  from  some  little  round  pockets  (/»)  in  the 
sides  of  his  body. 

So  the  leeches  live  in  ponds,  and  ditches,  and 
marshes,  and  some  even  on  damp  land  ;  and  the  eggs 
out  of  which  the  young  leeches  come,  are  laid  in  co- 
coons of  gummy  slime  placed  in  the  holes  and  clay  of 
the  banks.  Fish,  snails,  limpets,  and  grubs  are  their 


146  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

usual  food,  though  they  by  no  means  despise  warm- 
blooded animals  when  they  get  a  chance  to  fasten 
upon  them. 

The  elastic-ringed  animals  are  not,  however,  con- 
fined to  fresh  water ;  on  the  contrary,  though  they 
cannot  breathe  in  perfectly  dry  air,  yet  they  have 
found  their  way  underground  in  the  common  earth- 
worm, and  there  are  many  of  them  in  the  sea,  from 
which  probably  they  first  came,  and  where  they  are 
protected  and  armed  in  many  very  curious  ways. 

The  common  earthworm,  which  we  all  know  so 
well,  is  a  curious  example  of  a  water-animal  adapted 
to  live  under  the  earth.  He  breathes  as  the  leech 
does,  and  he  must  have  moisture,  for  perfectly  dry  air 
is  useless  to  him,  and  he  dies  quickly  in  very  dry 
places  where  he  cannot  keep  his  body  moistened 
with  slime.  Eyes  would  be  of  no  use  in  his  under- 
ground journeys,  and  he  only  comes  above  ground 
at  night,  so  we  find  that  these  organs  are  wanting  ; 
suckers  too  would  be  a  hindrance  to  him,  and  his 
body  ends  in  a  fine  tapering  point  which  he  can  push 
into  the  earth  like  a  shoemaker's  awl. 

But  how  is  he  to  force  his  way  through  the  earth  ? 
If  you  pass  your  hand  along  his  body  from  the  tail 
to  the  head  you  will  feel  a  gentle  resistance,  for 
every  ring  bears  four  pair  of  hooked  bristles  pointing 
backwards,  so  fine  as  not  to  be  easily  seen,  but  strong 
enough  for  his  work.  When  he  has  pushed  the  front 
part  of  his  body  a  little  way  into  the  earth  he  then 
draws  it  up  by  shortening  the  long  muscles,  and  the 
bristles  make  no  resistance  because  they  point  towards 
the  tail ;  then  he  contracts  his  ring  muscles  and  so 
forces  his  body  to  lengthen  again,  but  this  time  it 


ELASTIC-RINGED  ANIMALS.  147 

cannot  lengthen  backwards,  because  the  bristles  being 
rubbed  the  wrong  way  will  not  yield,  but  stick  into 
the  earth,  so  that  the  whole  movement  is  forwards, 
and  he  makes  his  way. 

He  often  assists  himself  too  in  another  way  by 
eating  the  earth  through  which  he  passes  ;  he  has 
no  hard  jaws  like  the  leech,  but  a  long  upper  lip  with 
which  he  shovels  the  earth  into  himself,  sending  it 
out  afterwards  at  his  tail,  and  making  those  curious 
coils  of  earth  which  we  find  on  lawns  and  garden 
paths.  His  usual  food  is  the  animal  and  vegetable 
matter  in  the  earth,  which  he  absorbs  out  of  it  as  it 
passes  through  his  body,  though  it  is  possible  he  may 
also  sometimes  eat  the  leaves  which  he  is  so  fond  of 
dragging  with  him  underground,  leaving  the  stalks 
sticking  out  above.  The  young  earthworms  are 
hatched  underground  in  cocoons  made  of  earthy  mat- 
ter and  slime,  and  as  they  have  no  eyes  or  tentacles 
or  other  tender  organs,  they  become  at  once  fearless 
miners.  Yet  they  often  fall  victims  at  all  ages  to 
the  hedgehog  and  the  mole,  and  even  to  their  rela- 
tions the  leeches  if  they  venture  near  the  water;  while 
birds  are  their  mortal  enemies.  Even  if  a  bird  can- 
not succeed  in  catching  a  whole  worm,  yet  he  will 
often  nip  off  his  tail  as  he  is  disappearing  into  the 
earth  in  the  early  morning  after  his  nightly  rambles. 
As,  however,  the  worm  can  grow  the  tail  again  with- 
out any  difficulty,  the  loss  is  perhaps  not  of  much 
consequence ;  and  from  his  living  underground  he 
is  certainly  exposed  to  fewer  dangers  than  our  next 
examples,  the  seaworms,  which  are  obliged  to  protect 
themselves  in  many  ingenious  ways. 


148 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Very  few  people,  as  a  rule,  are  acquainted  with 
the  seaworms  in  their  homes,  but  every  one  who  has 
handled  oysters  or  scallops  must  have  noticed  the 
curious  round  tubes  often  firmly  clinging  to  their 
shells.  These  tubes  were  once  the  home  of  a  sea- 
worm  which  has  built  them  of  chalk  and  slime.  The 
worm  itself  is  quite  loose  within  the  tube  and  stretches 

Fig.  53- 


A  Group  of  fixed  Sea- Worms. 

S,  Serpula.     t,  Tentacle  ;  /,  breathing-plume. 
Sp,  Spirorbis. 


T,  Terelella. 


its  body  out,  scrambling  up  the  sides  by  the  help  of 
its  bristles  and  of  a  number  of  little  comb-like  plates 
which  grow  upon  its  rings.  If  you  can  get  a  shell 
covered  with  these  tubes  from  the  sea  at  low  tide  and 
put  it  in  salt  water,  you  will  see  a  beautiful  sight. 
After  a  time  a  small  scarlet  stopper  (/,  Fig.  53)  will 
creep  up  and  out  of  the  tube,  and  as  it  rises  on  a 


ELASTIC-RINGED  ANIMALS.  149 

long  stem  there  will  follow  it  a  splendid  scarlet  plume 
(/)  arranged  like  a  double  fan,  and  waving  in  the 
water.  The  stopper  with  its  stem  is  one  of  the 
tentacles  of  the  worm  enlarged  at  its  end  so  as  to 
shut  the  animal  safely  within  the  tube,  while  the 
other  tentacles  have  become  the  beautiful  plume 
which  is  the  breathing  apparatus  of  the  animal.  It  is 
easy  to  understand  that  being  in  a  tube,  the  Serpula, 
as  this  worm  is  called,  cannot  breathe  through  its 
skin  like  the  leech  or  worm,  and  it  needs  these  deli- 
cate gills  to  provide  air  for  its  body,  while  at  the 
same  time  its  sensitive  nerves  and  apparatus  of 
muscles  enable  it  to  draw  them  in  like  lightning  when 
danger  is  near. 

There  is  an  almost  endless  variety  of  these  tube- 
building  worms.  You  can  scarcely  pick  up  a  piece 
of  dark  seaweed  without  finding  upon  it  what  look 
like  very  tiny  shells  (Sp,  Fig.  5  3),  but  which  are  really 
coiled  worm-tubes.  Again  you  cannot  search  long 
among  the  sandy  pools  at  low  tide  without  finding 
some  long  tubes  made  of  sand  and  broken  pieces 
of  shell  wedged  between  the  stones  and  rocks,  and 
having  forked  sandy  threads  at  their  end.  These 
tubes  are  the  house  of  the  Terebella  or  shell-binding 
worm,  which  selects  particles  of  shell  and  sand  with 
its  tentacles  and  places  them  round  its  soft  body, 
cementing  them  together  as  a  mason  cements  the 
stones  of  a  wall,  till  it  forms  a  tube  often  a  foot  long, 
so  firmly  wedged  into  the  beach  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  get  one  out  perfect ;  while  you  will 
rarely  find  the  worm  itself,  as  it  draws  back  to  the 
farthest  end  of  the  tube  directly  it  is  alarmed. 

These    are    the    fixed    scaworms,   but    there    are 


/SO  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

others  as  active  as  any  animal  in  the  sea,  and  the 
first  step  towards  these  is  the  common  higworm  which 
fishermen  use  for  bait  This  worm,  which  makes  the 
round  coils  of  sand  we  meet  with  on  the  coast,  moves 
freely  about  but  is  not  very  active,  for  it  has  no  eyes 
and  lives  much  underground,  glueing  together  the  sand 
as  it  passes  along,  and  forming  a  tunnel  for  itself 
through  which  it  can  pass.  Its  gills  are  no  longer  round 
its  head,  as  among  the  fixed  worms,  but  it  carries  them 
on  its  back  as  thirteen  pairs  of  lovely  scarlet  tufts. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  wonderful  defensive 
weapons  which  life  has  bestowed  upon  these  wander- 
ing worms.  The  lugworm  safely  hidden  in  its  tunnel 
does  not  need  any,  but  the  lovely  Nereis  (N,  Fig. 
54),  which  has  a  well -developed  head,  with  eyes, 
tentacles,  and  sharp  jaws,  leads  a  much  more  active 
and  precarious  life.  It  hides  under  stones  and  shells, 
or  moves  about  rapidly  in  the  water,  and  can  use 
its  bristles  not  only  as  oars  to  swim  with  but  also  as 
swords,  sabres,  and  hooks.  For  these  fine  bristles 
are  not  simple  hairs  as  they  appear,  but  have  saw-like 
edges  and  hooked  tips,  and  are  really  formidable 
weapons,  both  of  attack  and  defence,  although  the 
smaller  specimens  of  the  creature  which  you  find  on 
the  shore  often  look  like  mere  threads,  unless  seen 
under  a  magnifying  glass. 

But  if  the  Nereis  is  beautiful  and  terrible,  how 
much  more  so  is  the  marvellous  sea-mouse  (A,  Fig. 
54),  which  we  sometimes  see  thrown  up  on  the  shore, 
while  small  ones  may  be  found  by  turning  up  stones 
on  the  sand.  No  one  would  believe  at  first  sight 
that  this  creature  is  a  worm,  covered  as  it  is  with 
broad  scales  and  bristling  with  tufts  of  hair.  Yet  if 


ELASTIC-RINGED  ANIMALS.  151 

you  lift  the  scales  and  brush  aside  a  thick  coating  of 
felt  which  covers  the  body,  or  if  you  look  underneath 
the  creature  as  it  crawls  along,  you  will  be  able  to  dis- 
tinguish the  rings,  and  also  to  see  that  the  tufts  of  hair 
spring  each  from  a  separate  ring  like  the  hairs  of  the 
earthworm.  The  broad  scales  are  a  curious  breathing 
arrangement  peculiar  to  the  sea-mouse,  for  when  they 

Fig.  54- 


Sea-worms. 

A,  Aphrodite  aculeata,  commonly  called  a  sea-mouse,     b,  Bristles  ; 
/,  lances.     N,  Nereis  pelagica. 

are  lifted  the  thick  coating  of  felt  is  filled  with  water, 
which  in  this  way  flows  all  over  the  outside  of  the 
body  ;  and  when  they  are  shut  they  force  it  out  again, 
making  room  for  a  fresh  supply  of  water  to  pour  in 
when  they  rise.  In  this  way  the  whole  body  of  the 
animal  is  bathed  in  water,  out  of  which  the  oxygen 
can  be  taken  through  the  delicate  skin. 

But  it  is  above  all  the  tufts  of  hair  which  are  so 


153  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

beautiful  and  wonderful — beautiful  because  each 
bristle,  being  marked  with  the  finest  possible 
scratches,  reflects  light  of  all  the  colours  of  the  rain- 
bow— crimson,  scarlet,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue, 
and  lilac — according  to  the  angle  at  which  the  light 
falls  upon  it,  so  that  the  creature  looks  as  if  it  carried 
a  forest  of  prisms  upon  its  back.  Wonderful,  because 
each  of  these  hairs  is  a  sharp  lance,  by  which  the 
worm  can  protect  itself  from  attack.  In  one  of  the 
sea-mice,  the  Aphrodite  hispida,  these  bristles  are  per- 
fect harpoons,  with  barbed  points  at  their  tip  and 
delicate  teeth  all  along  the  edges,  and  they  can  be 
thrust  out  when  the  animal  wishes  to  defend  itself. 
But  how,  then,  can  the  worm  avoid  cutting  itself 
with  these  sharp  instruments  ?  To  prevent  this  each 
barbed  spine  has  a  smooth  horny  sheath,  which  closes 
upon  it  as  it  is  drawn  in  and  prevents  it  from  tearing 
the  tender  flesh !  Such  a  creature  as  this  deserves 
indeed  to  be  called  the  king  of  worms,  being  at  the 
same  time  so  beautiful  and  so  formidably  armed. 
He  lives  in  deep  water,  and  is  only  to  be  found 
when  thrown  on  shore,  where  he  is  very  helpless, 
though  in  his  own  element  he  is  a  dangerous  neigh- 
bour, as  he  feeds  greedily  upon  all  living  animals, 
not  sparing  even  his  own  brothers  when  they  are 
weaker  than  himself.  He  is  a  timid  creature,  hiding 
under  stones  and  in  dark  corners  and  shunning  the 
light  of  day  which  gives  him  all  his  beauty,  yet,  in 
bidding  adieu  to  the  worm-tribe,  we  must  acknow- 
ledge that  none  of  them  can  compare,  either  in  deli- 
cacy of  structure  or  in  their  weapons  of  attack  and 
defence,  with  the  little  sea-mouse,  or,  as  he  is  often 
called,  the  "  porcupine  of  the  ocean." 


THE  MAILED   WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       153 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  MAILED  WARRIORS   OF   THE   SEA  WITH   RINGED 
BODIES  AND  JOINTED   FEET. 

"  Strong  suits  of  armour  round  their  bodies  close, 
Which,  like  thick  anvils,  blunt  the  force  of  blows ; 
In  wheeling  marches  form'd,  oblique  they  go — 
With  harpy  claws  their  limbs  are  armed  below ; 
Fell  shears  the  passage  to  their  mouth  command, 
From  out  their  flesh  their  bones  by  nature  stand, 
Broad  spread  their  backs,  their  shining  shoulders  rise  ; 
Unnumber'd  joints  distort  their  lengthened  thighs  ; 
With  stony  gloves  their  hands  are  firmly  cased  ; 
Their  round  black  eyeballs  in  their  bosom  placed  ; 
On  eight  long  feet  the  wondrous  warriors  tread, 
And  either  end  alike  appears  a  head  ; 
These,  mortal  wits  to  name  as  '  Crabs '  agree — 
The  gods  have  other  names  for  things  than  we." 

"BATTLE   OF   THE   FROGS   AND   MlCE." 

"W 

AVING  now  arrived  at  the  sixth 
and  largest  division  of  the  whole 
animal  kingdom,  we  are  going  to 
leave  behind    us   those  low   and 
scattered  tribes,  which  live  as  it 
were    in    a    dreamy   unconscious 
way,   tossed    hither  and    hither   by 
outward  circumstances,  and  having 
but  feeble  nerves   to   guide  them  ; 
and  for  the  future  shall  have  to  do 
with     beings     gradually    struggling 
into  active  intelligent  life. 

No  one  can  watch  the  beautiful 
transparent  prawn,  with  his  bright 
eyes     gleaming,    and    his    antennae 
trembling  in   the  water,  without  feeling  that  we  have 


154  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

here  a  creature  much  more  alive  to  everything  around 
him  than  the  groping  star-fish  or  the  creeping  worm, 
while  the  active  little  crab  as  he  peers  out  from  the 
seaweed,  and  scrambles  across  the  shallow  pools,  or 
buries  himself  in  an  instant  in  the  wet  sand,  shows 
a  lightness  and  agility  which  we  look  for  in  vain  in 
the  sluggish  snail  or  the  slowly -grazing  limpet 
And  when  we  learn  that  the  prawn  and  the  crab  in 
the  sea  are  formed  on  the  same  plan  as  the  centipedes, 
spiders,  and  insects  of  the  land,  we  see  that  we  are 
on  the  road  to  even  more  intelligent  and  more  active 
creatures,  such  as  the  busy  bee  and  the  thrifty  ant. 

But  how  can  this  be,  that  the  heavy  armour-covered 
crab  and  lobster,  which  are  called  Crustacea  from  their 
hard  crust-like  shells,  should  belong  to  the  same  type 
as  the  delicate  hovering  butterfly,  and  the  buzzing 
gnat  ?  Let  us  pause  and  master  this,  for  till  we 
have  done  so,  we  cannot  understand  the  wonderful 
way  in  which  the  creatures  of  each  group  in  this  divi- 
sion have  been  adapted  to  the  life  they  have  to  lead. 

In  Fig.  55  we  have  four  animals — a  prawn,  a 
centipede,  a  spider,  and  a  caterpillar  together  with 
the  butterfly  into  which  it  turns.  Now  all  these 
animals  wear  their  skeleton,  or  the  hard  part  of  their 
bodies,  not  inside  as  we  do  with  soft  flesh  growing 
over  it,  but  outside  ;  so  that  if  you  grasp  any  of  them 
when  dead,  the  skin  (as  we  should  call  it)  will  bend 
or  crack  like  a  piece  of  thin  horn.  Moreover,  this 
hard  outside  skeleton  is  arranged  more  or  less  in 
rings  with  softer  skin  between  them,  as  you  may  see 
in  the  centipede  and  caterpillar,  and  in  the  hind  part 
of  the  prawn  and  butterfly ;  and  they  are  to  be  traced 
in  many  spiders,  though  as  a  rule  they  have  disap- 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       155 

peared.  These  rings  remind  us  of  the  worm,  only 
that  in  the  animals  of  which  we  are  now  speaking 
they  are  more  marked,  and  whereas  the  worm  has 
only  hairs  for  legs,  these  animals  have  many-jointed 
limbs  which  are  of  great  use  in  running,  leaping, 

Fig-  55- 


A  group  of  Jointed-footed  animals  (Arthropoda),  showing  their 
ringed  bodies. 

and  seizing  prey.  It  is  because  of  these  jointed 
limbs  that  the  Crustacea,  centipedes,  spiders,  and 
insects  are  all  called  Arthropoda,  or  jointed -footed 
animals.*  Linnaeus  called  them  all  Insects,  because 
their  bodies  are  cut  into  divisions  (in  into,  secta  cut), 
and  although  naturalists  now  generally  confine  the 


8 


*  Arthron,  a  joint ;  pous,  a  foot. 


156  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

word  "  insect "  to  those  which  have  wings  and  six 
legs,  yet  a  good  English  name  is  so  much  wanted 
which  will  take  in  centipedes  and  spiders  as  well  as 
beetles  and  butterflies,  that  I  shall  follow  Mr.  Ray 
Lankester's  suggestion  *  and  call  all  the  ringed  and 
jointed-footed  animals  "  Insects." 

In  this  sense  the  prawns  and  their  relations  which 
are  both  jointed-footed  and  cut  into  parts  have  been 
called  the  "  Insects  of  the  Sea,"  and  this  name  helps 
to  remind  us  how  much  they  are  like  the  great  body 
of  insects  on  the  land. 

This  likeness  is  very  evident  when  we  compare 
the  four  types  in  Fig.  5  5 .  Thus  we  have  first  the 
butterfly,  whose  body  you  will  notice  is  cut  into  three 
distinct  parts — the  head  with  one  pair  of  feelers  or 
antenna  on  its  forehead,  a  pair  of  eyes  on  the  side  of 
the  head,  and  mouth-jaws  below  ;  the  thorax,  or  chest, 
on  which  grow  the  six  legs  and  two  pair  of  wings  ; 
and  the  abdomen,  or  hinder  part  of  the  body,  which 
never  possesses  any  limbs.  The  butterfly  thus  is  a 
six-legged  winged  insect.  Then  we  have  the  centi- 
pede, whose  ringed  body  reminds  us  of  the  caterpillar 
from  which  the  butterfly  springs,  but  which  has 
jointed  feet  on  every  ring.  Next  we  come  to  the 
spider,  and  here  we  find  the  head  and  shoulders 
joined  into  one  strong  piece,  and  bearing  four  pair  of 
legs,  while  the  abdomen  has  nearly  lost  the  traces 
of  rings.  The  antennae  are  bent  down  over  the 
forehead,  and  have  been  turned,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  into  pincers,  hooks,  and  poison  fangs  ;  while  the 
short  feelers  in  front  of  the  head,  which  look  like 

*  Haeckel,  History  of  Creation,  English  translation,  vol.  ii.  p.  178, 
note. 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       157 

antennae,  are  really  a  part  of  the  mouth.  Lastly  we 
have  the  prawn  with  his  head  and  shoulders  joined 
into  one  like  the  spider  (in  the  lobster  you  may  see 
a  curved  line  marking  the  spot  where  these  are 
joined),  with  five  pair  of  legs,  while  some  of  its  rela- 
tions have  many  more  ;  and  the  usual  ringed  abdo- 
men which  in  this  case  has  little  paddles  under  it 
for  swimming. 

Now  just  as  when  we  feed,  part  of  our  food  goes 
to  make  phosphates,  which  form  and  strengthen  our 
bones  or  internal  skeleton,  so  do  all  these  animals 
make  out  of  the  food  in  their  bodies  a  substance 
called  cJdtine  something  like  horn,  and  this  is 
deposited  in  the  outer  layer  of  their  skin,  and 
makes  a  firm  skeleton  all  over  the  body,  and  eyes, 
and  antennae,  and  legs  ;  and  within  this  firm  skele- 
ton the  soft  animal  lives,  much  as  a  soldier  in  olden 
times  was  enclosed  in  his  jointed  armour.  But  if  a 
soldier  had  been  placed  in  armour  as  a  baby,  he 
would  have  had  to  change  his  suit  many  times  before 
he  became  a  man,  and  this  is  also  the  case  with 
insects.  Their  covering  is  not  like  that  of  the  sea- 
urchin,  which  we  saw  could  be  added  to  at  every 
point ;  it  is  made  once  for  all,  like  the  soldier's 
armour,  and  the  creature  must  throw  it  off  when  it 
becomes  too  small  for  its  body.  Thus  the  prawn,  the 
centipede,  the  spider,  and  the  caterpillar  alike  creep 
out  of  their  armour  many  times  in  their  lives,  leaving 
it  often  standing  so  perfect  that  it  looks  like  the 
creature  itself. 

We  see  then  that  the  prawn  and  his  relations, 
although  they  live  in  the  sea,  belong  to  the  ringed 
and  jointed-footed  division,  and  are  formed  on  the 


158  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

same  plan  as  the  land-insects,  which  have  spread  so 
far  and  wide  over  the  globe.  These  are  an  active  busy 
multitude,  which,  if  they  could  think  and  speak,  would 
have  far  more  right  to  call  this  earth  their  world  than 
we  have  to  call  it  ours  ;  for  whether  in  the  sea,  or  in 
the  rivers  and  ponds  ;  in  the  fields,  forests,  or  marshes ; 
at  the  tops  of  mountains,  or  in  underground  caves 
and  passages  ;  in  our  gardens,  our  cellars,  our  houses, 
or  about  our  persons  ;  anywhere,  everywhere,  all  over 
the  world  their  hosts  are  to  be  found. 

We  are  accustomed  to  attach  great  importance  to 
the  back-boned  animals,  the  fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  lions, 
elephants,  and  monkeys,  because  they  are  compara- 
tively large  and  conspicuous,  but  in  truth,  if  we  ex- 
cept the  human  race,  they  are  as  nothing,  either  in 
number  or  in  activity  and  ingenuity,  as  compared  with 
the  insects  and  their  allies. 

If  we  could  take  one  of  each  species  of  all  the 
back-boned  animals,  and  add  to  them  all  the  species 
of  worms,  mollusca,  prickly-skinned  animals,  lasso- 
throwers,  sponges,  and  lime  and  flint  builders,  'all 
these  together  would  only  make  up  50,000  species, 
or  one-fifth  of  the  animals  on  the  globe  ;  the  other 
four-fifths,  or  200,000  species,  belong  to  the  ringed  and 
jointed-footed  animals,  and  of  these  I  5  0,000  are  the 
six-legged  insects.  Now  we  have  learnt  that  if  crea- 
tures succeed  in  the  battle  of  life,  it  is  because  they 
can  hold  their  own  and  fight  bravely,  and  therefore 
we  are  prepared  to  find  that  life  has  taught  these,  her 
active  children,  many  new  lessons  and  armed  them 
with  many  useful  tools  and  weapons,  differing  greatly 
according  to  the  lives  they  have  to  lead. 

And  first  of  all  we  must  turn  our  attention  to  the 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       159 

great  group  of  "  Crustacea,"  the  "  insects  of  the  sea." 
For  though  some  of  this  group,  as  the  water-flea  and 
cray-fish,  live  in  rivers  and  ponds,  while  a  few,  such 
as  the  wood-louse  and  even  some  kinds  of  crabs, 
crawl  upon  the  land,  yet  the  chief  home  of  the  crus- 
tacea  is  the  ocean,  where,  having  scarcely  any  enemies 
so  powerful  as  themselves  except  their  own  relations, 
they  run  riot  both  as  to  numbers  and  size.  Think 
for  a  moment  of  the  multitudes  of  sandhoppers  to  be 
seen  leaping  on  a  dry  sandy  shore  in  the  evening, 
or  which  rise  like  a  cloud  of  dust  out  of  the  half- 
rotten  seaweed  if  you  stir  it  with  your  hand.  Try 
to  reckon  up  the  myriads  of  shrimps  and  prawns 
which  must  be  caught  daily  to  supply  all  England, 
and  which  are  nothing  to  those  that  remain  behind. 
Look  at  the  large  crabs  and  lobsters  in  the  fish- 
mongers' shops,  and  think  that  in  London  alone 
25,000  lobsters  are  often  sold  in  the  season  in  one 
single  day !  Then  call  to  mind  how  you  cannot 
walk  a  step  on  the  shore  at  low  tide,  without  seeing 
some  tiny  crab  scuttling  along  in  a  hurry  to  catch 
something,  or  to  escape  being  caught  himself;  or 
how  constantly  you  come  across  a  hermit  crab  with 
a  periwinkle  or  whelk  shell  on  his  back,  making 
tracks  in  the  sand  as  he  wanders  along.  Try  and 
count  some  day  the  number  of  acorn  shells  (Fig.  61, 
p.  174)  which  grow  on  one  single  piece  of  rock  or 
the  groyne  of  a  pier.  For  these  too  are  crustaceans, 
as  are  also  the  barnacles  (Fig.  61)  which  hang  from 
floating  timber  or  gather  on  the  bottom  of  ships. 
When  you  have  gained  some  idea  of  the  multitudes 
of  these  creatures  on  our  own  shores,  you  will  not 
have  reckoned  one  millionth  part  of  the  crustaceans 


160  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

which  live  in  the  sea,  for  not  only  are  there  strange 
forms  of  all  kinds  on  distant  shores,  but  there  are 
oceanic  crabs  which  swim  in  the  open  sea  for  days 
without  resting,  just  as  the  albatross  flies  over  it, 
while  smaller  crustaceans  swarm  under  the  ice  in 
the  Arctic  regions,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  fish  which 
has  not  an  animal  of  this  class  living  on  some  part 
of  its  body. 

Of  all  the  many  forms,  however,  there  is  probably 
not  one  more  beautiful  than  the  delicate  transparent 
prawn   as  he   paddles  along  lazily  in  sea  pools,  or 
through  the  still  water  of  an  aquarium.      His  horny 
Fig  s6>  skeleton     is    so    clear 

and  glass-like,  that  it 
looks  like  crystal,  while 
the  formidable  toothed 
saw  protectinghis  head, 
is  scarcely  visible  in 
the  water,  and  his 
delicate  antennae  and 
tapering  limbs  look  as 

Common  Prawn.  .  r     ,  ,  , 

if  they  would  snap  at 

a,  Large  antennae ;  a2,  antennules  or  ,         .      , 

small  antenna;  b,  front  leg,  with  small  a  touch.  AS  he  SWims 
claw  bearing  a  brush;  t,  carapace  you  will  notice  that  it 

j  i       •  u  u  u'  2. '  i '*   is  not  his  ten.  true  lesrs 

ringed  abdomen  ;   S,  swimmerets ;    t,    in  the  front  part  of  his 

body  which  row   him 

along,  but  the  little  hairy  swimmerets,  S,  which  lie  under 
the  hinder  part  or  abdomen,  while  if  anything  alarms 
him,  he  darts  rapidly  backwards  by  a  smart  stroke 
of  his  fan-like  tail,  t.  His  long  antennae  or  feelers,  a, 
are  streaming  over  his  back,  while  a  pair  of  shorter 
antennae  or  antennules  (a2}  as  these  are  called,  each 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       161 

bearing  three  branches,  move  gently  to  and  fro  in 
the  water.  Why  do  they  do  this  ?  Because  in  their 
last  joint  where  they  touch  the  head,  is  a  little  bag 
beset  with  hair,  and  having  in  it  a  thick  fluid  and 
some  tiny  particles  of  sand,  and  this  is  the  ear  of  the 
prawn  from  which  a  nerve  passes  to  the  main  nerve- 
mass  in  his  head ;  so  that  as  he  moves  the  antennules 
in  the  water,  he  is,  as  it  were,  listening  without  ceasing 
to  all  sounds  that  may  pass  through  it.  Just  above 
these  hearing  organs  a  pair  of  gleaming  eyes  stand 
out  upon  short  stalks,  and  if  you  examine  these 
under  the  microscope,  you  will  see  that  they  are 
composed  of  a  number  of  six-sided  facets  arranged 
in  a  hemisphere,  so  that  the  prawn  can  keep  a  sharp 
look-out  on  all  sides.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  animal 
with  a  keen  power  of  sight,  of  hearing,  and  of  feel- 
ing ;  and  if  you  have  ever  watched  a  prawn  hunting 
over  the  scent  of  a  piece  of  meat  which  has  been 
dropped  into  an  aquarium,  you  will  not  doubt  that 
he  has  also  the  sense  of  smell,  though  it  is  difficult 
to  point  out  exactly  where  the  smelling  organ  is.* 

And  now  suppose  that  he  has  scented  or  caught 
sight  of  his  prey,  whether  it  be  a  piece  of  dead 
flesh  or  a  soft  tender  living  shrimp,  he  darts  down 
upon  it,  and  seizing  it  with  his  second  pair  of  feet 
(cl,  Fig.  56),  which  have  large  pincers,  picks  it  to 
pieces  with  his  mouth  and  claws,  and  eats  it,  much 
as  a  child  eats  a  biscuit  held  in  its  hand,  but  not 
with  the  same  kind  of  mouth.  If  you  will  get  hold 
of  a  prawn  and  try  to  make  out  its  jaws,  you  will 

*  There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  position  both  of  the  smell- 
ing and  hearing  organs.  It  seems,  however,  from  Mr.  Spence  Bate's 
experiments,  that  the  ear  must  be  at  the  base  of  the  smaller  antennae, 
and  probably  the  organ  of  smell  is  at  the  base  of  the  large  ones. 


1 62  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

be  terribly  puzzled  with  the  number  of  pieces  in 
them,  for  you  will  find  no  less  than  six  pairs.  The 
outer  pair  are  evidently  altered  feet,  which  are  folded 
right  over  the  others  so  as  to  cover  them  in  safely, 
much  as  you  might  put  your  hands  before  your 
mouth ;  under  these  lie  two  more  pairs,  with  little  feelers 
attached  to  them  ;  under  these  again  are  two  other 
pairs,  rather  differently  shaped ;  and  lastly  under  these 
a  stout  pair  of  jaws,  with  sharp  edges  for  biting,  and 
a  surface  for  grinding  the  food.  These  jaws  do  not 
work  up  and  down  as  ours  do,  but  from  side  to  side 
like  the  jaws  of  a  bee  or  ant,  and  they  are  most  use- 
ful to  the  prawn  in  tearing  its  food. 

But  how  can  he  have  come  by  so  many  ?  Let  us 
look  back  for  a  minute  to  the  worm,  which  you  will 
remember  had  no  true  head,  but  only  a  long  upper 
lip,  and  a  line  of  rings  on  its  body,  each  bearing  its 
own  pair  of  bristles.  Now,  the  prawn  also  is  a  ringed 
animal,  only  that  in  his  head  the  separation  between 
the  rings  is  lost,  and  in  his  thorax  they  have  grown 
closely  together  so  that  we  can  only  count  them  by 
the  lines  under  his  body,  and  by  the  limbs,  which  grow 
one  pair  to  each  ring.  Thus,  wherever  there  has  been 
a  ring,  there  a  pair  of  jointed  limbs  remains,  altered  to 
suit  the  wants  of  the  animal,  and  as  the  head  is  made 
up  of  many  rings,  these  come  close  together,  and 
form  the  eye-stalks,  the  antennae,  antennules,  and  the 
mouth-pieces  ;  while  the  five  rings  of  the  thorax  bear 
the  five  pair  of  jointed  legs,  and  the  swimmerets  and 
tail-pieces  spring  from  the  rings  of  the  abdomen. 

While  all  the  Crustacea  keep  to  this  rule  of  a 
pair  of  jointed  limbs  to  each  ring,  the  changes  are 
endless  by  which  these  rings  and  these  limbs  have 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       163 

been  modified  to  suit  their  lives.  Thus  for  example, 
while  the  prawn  uses  his  second  pair  of  feet  for 
catching  and  holding  his  prey,  it  is  the  front  feet  of 
the  crab  and  lobster  which  carry  the  large  strong 
claws,  and  in  the  shrimp  these  front  feet  have  a  kind 
of  broad  hand  at  the  end,  with  a  hook  attached. 
Again,  the  skeleton  of  the  prawn  remains  clear  and 
transparent,  but  the  warlike  crab  and  lobster  secrete 
layers  of  lime  in  their  skeleton,  forming  a  stony  coat. 

Fig-  57- 


T,  Sandhopper.*  e,  Flat  eye.    C,  Skeleton  Shrimp,  f  g,  Breathing  gills. 

Then  again  if  you  look  at  the  nimble  sandhopper 
(T,  Fig.  5  7),  with  eyes  flat  in  its  head  instead  of  being 
raised  on  stalks,  you  will  notice  that  all  its  body  is 
ringed  right  up  to  its  head,  so  that  it  can  bend  itself 
almost  into  a  circle,  and  flinging  back  its  tail  with  a 
jerk,  spring  about  in  the  sand. 

In  the  skeleton  shrimp  (C,  Fig.  57),  which  crawls 
about  among  the  weeds  under  water,  the  body  has 
*  Talitrus.  +  Caprella. 


i64 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


become  so  thin  that  it  looks  like  a  mere  chain  of  bony 
rings  with  legs  hanging  on  to  them.  In  this  curious 
shrimp  I  want  you  particularly  to  notice  the  little 
bag-like  flaps,  g,  hanging  down  where  the  legs  join 
the  body.  These  are  its  breathing  gills,  in  which  the 
colourless  blood  of  the  veins  takes  up  oxygen  as  they 
lie  bathed  in  the  water.  Now,  when  you  next  eat  a 
prawn  or  shrimp,  lift  up  the  shield  or  carapace  (c,  Fig. 
56)  covering  the  thorax,  and  you  will  find  a  row  of 
curious  bodies  (b,  Fig.  58),  looking  something  like 
curled  feathers,  lying  against  its  sides,  and  fastened 

Fig.  S8. 


1,  Ideal  section  of  prawn,  showing,   s,  stomach,  below  this  the 
mouth ;  /,  liver  ;  /,  intestine  ;  A,  heart  j  g,  chain  of  ganglia  or  nerve- 
masses  ;  hg,  head  ganglia. 

2,  Prawn  with  carapace  removed,  showing  gills  or  branchiae,  b. 

to  the  legs.  These  are  the  breathing  gills  of  the 
prawn,  and  they  will  remind  you  of  the  "ladies' 
fingers "  which  we  clear  away  in  a  lobster  before 
eating  it.  Though  both  in  the  lobster  and  prawn  the 
shield  has  grown  over  and  covered  these  gills,  yet 
you  will  see  that  they  are  really  on  the  outside  of 
the  body,  at  the  top  of  the  legs,  as  in  the  skeleton 
shrimp,  and  that  water  can  easily  get  to  them  under 
the  shield.  In  the  oyster,  you  will  remember  that 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       165 

hairs  or  cilia  swept  the  water  over  the  gills  (see  p.  1 09) ; 
but  here,  by  a  most  beautiful  arrangement,  too  com- 
plicated to  explain,  the  movement  of  the  feet  near 
the  mouth  empties  the  water  out,  and  so  draws  in 
fresh  constantly  from  the  back.  And  here  again 
notice  that  animals  without  back-bones  do  not  breathe 
through  their  mouths,  but  through  their  sides. 

Meanwhile  our  prawn  has  been  swimming  and 
feeding,  and  you  will  scarcely  wonder  at  his  activity 
or  his  quick  senses,  when  you  learn  that  the  same 
double  chain  of  nerves  which  we  saw  in  the  leech 
runs  also  under  his  body  (g,  Fig.  58),  only  that 
whenever  two  rings  are  quite  lost  in  each  other,  two 
nerve  masses  or  telegraph  stations  are  also  joined 
into  one,  so  that  in  the  head,  for  example,  a  large 
number  have  come  together,  and  make  powerful 
head-stations  (Jig,  Fig.  58)  of  nervous  power.  His 
muscles  too  are  firm  and  strong,  and  fill  nearly  the 
whole  of  his  ringed  abdomen,  and  of  his  legs  and 
claws,  so  that  though  he  looks  so  transparent  and 
fairy-like,  he  is  stronger  than  he  appears. 

But  now  there  comes  a  time  when  he  grows 
restless  and  uneasy,  and  ceases  to  care  for  food  as  he 
wanders  about  the  rocks  on  the  tips  of  his  toes,  seem- 
ing rather  to  be  seeking  some  particular  spot.  The 
fact  is  that  it  is  nearly  a  fortnight  since  he  has  changed 
his  armour,  and  as  he  is  young  and  growing  fast,  it 
begins  to  be  very  tight  for  him.  At  last  he  finds 
a  spot  to  his  liking,  and  taking  hold  firmly  by  his 
feet,  he  begins  to  sway  to  and  fro  so  as  to  loosen  his 
body  inside  its  covering.  Then  all  at  once  a  slit 
opens  between  his  shield  and  the  skin  of  his  abdomen, 
and  gradually  his  shoulders  and  head  back  out,  bring- 


1 66  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

ing  with  them  antennae  and  eye-stalks,  legs  and  feet, 
as  perfect  as  before,  and  having  even  their  tiny  spines 
and  hairs  upon  them ;  then  with  a  sudden  jerk  he 
pulls  out  his  abdomen  and  leaves  his  clear  transparent 
shell  so  perfect  with  the  coverings  of  the  eyes,  anten- 
nas, legs,  hairs,  and  spines,  nay,  even  with  the  lining 
of  his  stomach  and  digestive  tube,  that  you  might 
believe  the  real  prawn  still  stood  upon  the  rock. 
But  no!  the  creature  himself  is  rolling  helplessly 
over,  his  soft  body  being  scarcely  able  to  keep  itself 
in  position,  and  if  any  animal  were  to  seize  him  now 
his  death-hour  would  have  arrived.  He  knows  this 
well  and  soon  begins  to  strike  out  his  abdomen  and 
work  his  swimmerets  which  are  gradually  stiffening 
and  strengthening,  and  so  manages  to  swim  or  creep 
into  some  sheltered  nook,  where  his  inner  coat,  which 
has  long  been  forming,  hardens,  and  he  is  a  valiant 
prawn  again. 

He  is  now  quite  clean  and  bright  and  beautiful, 
and  he  loves  to  remain  so,  and  is  most  particular 
about  his  toilet,  in  fact  the  prawn  is  one  of  the  few 
Crustacea  which  has  been  seen  to  brush  himself  up 
with  great  care,  though  probably  many  others  do  it. 
We  have  noticed  that  his  strongest  claws  are  not 
on  the  front  pair  of  feet  as  in  the  crab  and  lobster, 
but  on  the  second  pair.  The  front  claws  are  fine 
and  delicate,  and  carry  little  brushes  on  their  tips  ; 
and  the  prawn  has  been  seen  standing  on  his  four 
hinder  pair  of  legs  with  his  tail  tucked,  under  him, 
and  using  his  front  pair  to  brush  his  swimmerets, 
afterwards  passing  them  through  his  foot-jaws  to 
clear  the  dirt  off  the  brushes  ! "" 

*  The  little  broad-claw  crab  cleans  himself  with  the  hind  pair  of 
feet  instead  of  the  front  ones. 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.       167 

Not  so  the  large  crabs,  the  backs  of  which  we 
so  often  find  covered  with  weed  and  shells  and  small 
tube-worms  which  have  settled  upon  them,  so  that 
when  a  crab  is  old  and  does  not  change  his  shell, 
he  often  carries  a  perfect  colony  of  life  about  with 
him.  If  the  prawn  is  the  crystal  fairy  of  the  sea, 


Early  life  of  a  Crab. 

I,  A  crab  soon  after  birth ;  i',  natural  size.  2,  A  crab  after 
changing  its  skin  several  times  ;  2',  natural  size.  3,  The  young  per- 
fect crab  after  it  has  tucked  its  tail  under  the  carapace. 

surely  the  crab,  when  big,  is  the  lumbering  armed 
giant,  who  destroys  and  devours  without  mercy, 
glaring  out  of  his  coat  of  mail,  and  not  fearing  any 
creature  except  a  stronger  crab  than  himself.  He 
spares  no  animal,  whether  fish,  mollusc,  crustacean, 
or  worm,  that  comes  in  his  way  as  he  sidles  along 


168  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

on  his  strong  muscular  limbs  ;  but  seizing  them  in 
his  powerful  claws  he  cracks  their  shells  if  they  have 
any,  and  tears  their  flesh  to  pieces,  tucking  it  greedily 
into  his  mouth,  which  looks  as  if  it  were  in  the 
middle  of  his  body.  He  even  makes  no  difficulty  of 
breaking  the  shell  of  one  of  his  own  kind  and  feeding 
upon  it  from  behind,  while  it  in  its  turn  is  eating 
some  smaller  and  weaker  brother. 

To  devour  and  be  devoured  seems  to  be  the  main 
mission  of  crabs,  and  they  feed  so  greedily  that  we 
shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  besides  their 
array  of  outer  jaws,  they,  and  many  of  the  other 
Crustacea,  have  hard  teeth  in  their  stomach  (j,  Fig. 
58)  which  help  to  grind  down  the  food.  You  may 
see  these  teeth  well  in  the  stomach  of  the  lobster, 
where  children  often  call  them  the  "  lady  in  her 
chair." 

At  first  sight  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a 
crab  can  belong  to  the  ringed  animals,  but  if  you 
lift  up  the  tail,  which  is  tucked  under  the  body, 
you  will  see  that  this  is  ringed  like  the  abdomen  of 
the  prawn,  and  if  you  break  off  the  legs  carefully 
you  will  find  under  them  the  finger-like  gills,  showing 
that  the  body  of  the  crab  answers  to  the  head  and 
thorax  of  the  prawn,  only  that  the  shield  over  its 
back  is  much  broader,  and  is  fastened  down  firmly 
at  the  sides,  while  the  tail  is  tucked  under  instead  of 
standing  out. 

Moreover,  if  you  could  see  the  crab  when  he  is 
first  hatched  from  the  egg  (i,  Fig.  59)  you  would  see 
his  tail  stretched  out  and  jointed  as  distinctly  as  that 
of  the  prawn,  and  at  this  time,  with  his  flat  eyes  and  a 
curious  spine  sticking  out  of  his  back,  he  is  as  unlike 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.      169 

a  crab  as  can  well  be.  In  this  state  he  swims  about 
vigorously,  and  in  seven  or  eight  days,  having  cast 
off  his  coat  several  times,  he  loses  his  spine,  his  back 
becomes  broader,  and  he  becomes  a  tailed  crab  (2). 
Still  he  goes  on  swimming  and  clinging  to  seaweed 
or  anything  he  can  find,  till,  after  moulting  a  few 
more  times,  his  tail  is  folded  under  and  he  sinks  to 
the  bottom  a  true  walking  crab  (3). 

A  change  or  metamorphosis  of  this  kind  takes 
place  in  nearly  all  the  Crustacea  during  their  growth, 
though  it  is  different  in  the  various  forms. 

After  the  crab  has  assumed  his  real  shape  he 
lives  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  generally  in  deep 
water,  and  in  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  and  fights 
bravely  for  his  life  among  his  companions.  Only 
about  four  times  in  the  year  while  he  is  young  a 
season  of  fear  and  anxiety  comes  upon  him,  for  his 
shell  will  not  allow  him  to  grow  any  larger  and  he 
must  part  with  his  strong  armour.  Then  he  creeps 
into  the  darkest  hole  he  can  find,  and,  throwing  him- 
self upon  his  back,  swells  out  his  body  till  he  forces 
his  covering  shield  to  break  away  from  the  under 
part,  and  so  he  creeps  out.  He  does  this  with  much 
pain  and  difficulty,  for  his  claws  are  much  larger  than 
the  joints  through  which  they  have  to  be  pulled,  and 
they  are  often  cut  and  lacerated  in  the  process. 
He  could  not,  in  fact,  get  out  at  all  if  it  were  not 
that  his  flesh  becomes  watery  before  he  casts  his 
shell.  Every  housekeeper  knows  and  avoids  buying 
a  watery  crab,  in  which  the  flesh  is  poor  and  thin 
and  the  shell  is  half  filled  with  fluid.  When  his 
shell  is  cast  the  crab  waits  trembling  in  his  hole  for 
a  new  layer  of  lime  to  form  before  he  can  venture 


i;o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

boldly  out  again.  It  is  said  that  at  these  times 
when  a  mother  crab  loses  her  shell  and  becomes  soft, 
her  mate  will  watch  the  hole  where  she  is  lying  and 
keep  her  safe  till  her  shell  has  hardened. 

But  how,  then,  is  it  with  the  hermit-crab  ?     He, 
poor  fellow,  never  loses  the  long  tail  which  all  young 


Hermit-crabs.* 

1,  The  hermit-crab  in  a  whelk-shell  walking,     f,  The  large  claw 
which  closes  the  hole  when  it  retreats  into  the  shell  ;  f}  smaller  feet. 

2,  The  hermit-crab  coming  out  of  the  shell,    a,  The  soft  abdomen  ; 
h,  hooks  by  which  it  takes  firm  hold  in  the  shell. 

crabs  have  when  they  are  born,  and,  moreover,  the  skin 
which  covers  his  abdomen  is  quite  soft,  thus  always 
offering  a  tempting  morsel  to  hungry  sea -animals. 
One  would  think  that  here  was  a  disadvantage  very 
unfair  to  the  half- naked  animal.  But  wait  a  mo- 

*  Pagiirus  Bernhardi. 


THE  MAILED   WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.      171 

ment  and  consider  how  many  thousands  of  hermit- 
crabs  of  all  sizes  feed  on  the  dead  fish  and  garbage 
of  every  sea-shore  ;  and  how  well  they  are  protected 
by  the  strong  winkle  and  whelk  shells  which  they 
choose  for  their  houses,  so  that  they  can  hold  their 
own,  when  the  tiny  crabs  wearing  only  their  own 
brittle  coats,  would  soon  be  cracked  and  eaten. 
Evidently  the  hermit-crab  has  found  stolen  houses 
an  advantage  to  him,  and  the  way  in  which  his  tail 
has  become  adapted  to  his  home,  while  keeping  all 
the  usual  parts  of  a  crab,  is  most  curious. 

One  of  his  claws  (c,  i)  is  much  bigger  than  the 
other,  and  closes  the  opening  of  the  shell  after  the 
rest  of  the  body  is  drawn  in,  thus  barring  the  door 
against  most  intruders,  although  the  fiddler- crab 
sometimes  manages  to  thrust  in  his  thin  pincers  and 
pinch  the  hermit  to  death.  His  next  two  feet  are 
strong,  though  pointed,  and  are  able  to  take  a  firm 
hold  on  the  sand  as  he  walks  and  to  bear  the  weight 
of  the  shell,  while  the  two  comparatively  thin  pairs 
which  follow  serve  to  shift  his  body  in  its  house.  His 
swimmerets,  no  longer  needed,  are  stunted  and  small, 
and  his  soft  abdomen  follows  the  winding  of  the  shell 
in  which  he  lives  ;  while  the  tail  fin,  no  longer  broad 
and  flat,  is  turned  into  a  kind  of  grappling  hook  (/£), 
which  takes  hold  so  firmly  that  he  is  scarcely  ever 
dragged  out  alive.  So  there  is  but  little  danger  for 
him  except  when  he  is  changing  his  shell  for  a  larger 
one,  and  this  he  does  wonderfully  quickly,  never 
leaving  his  old  house  till  he  has  found  a  new  one. 
In  fact  the  hermit  succeeds  so  well  in  life  that  he  is 
extremely  pugnacious,  and  will  soon  make  great 
havoc  in  an  aquarium.  Moreover,  he  often  feeds  two 


172  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

other  animals  besides  himself,  for  a  parasitic  anemone 
often  lives  upon  his  shell,  and  a  beautiful  worm'55' 
shelters  within  it  and  has  been  seen  to  tear  the  food 
out  of  the  crab's  mouth. 

So  each  in  their  several  ways,  the  prawns,  lobsters, 
and  crabs,  struggle  for  their  livelihood.  Brave,  hardy, 
and  voracious,  they  spare  scarcely  any  creature  of  the 
sea  of  moderate  size,  whether  dead  or  living,  and 
they  fight  so  madly,  that  fishermen  sending  lobsters 
alive  to  London,  are  obliged  to  run  a  piece  of  wood 
in  the  joints  of  the  claws  to  prevent  them  from 
maiming  each  other  on  the  road. 

They  care  but  little  for  lost  limbs,  for  these  will 
grow  again  ;  and  when  wounded,  so  that  they  might 
bleed  to  death,  they  throw  off  the  shattered  limb 
at  the  next  joint,  where  a  new  skin  quickly  forms, 
and  the  danger  is  averted.  No  doubt  hundreds  die 
both  in  youth  and  age,  yet  the  multitudes  never 
diminish,  for  one  lobster  alone  will  produce  20,000 
eggs,  which  she  will  carry  patiently  for  six  months 
under  her  abdomen,  fastened  together  by  gluey 
threads.  Even  after  she  has  broken  open  the  eggs 
by  the  movement  of  her  tail,  and  released  the  baby 
lobsters,  she  will  still  carry  them  till  their  coat  is 
hard  and  firm,  and  only  then  leave  them  to  wander 
alone.  The  crab  and  the  prawn,  on  the  contrary, 
turn  their  little  ones  out  at  once  to  swim  as  scarcely 
visible  specks  in  the  open  sea,  where  they  feed  and 
grow  till  their  strange  changes  of  shape  are  worked 
out. 

The  crab  family,  however,  are  not  satisfied  with 
one  kind  of  life  ;  the  velvet  fiddler-crab  of  our  shores 

*  Nereis  bilineata. 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.      173 

has  its  hind  feet  broad  and  flat,  and  may  be  seen 
swimming,  when  the  common  crab  can  only  creep  ; 
while  the  oceanic  crab  has  taken  to  the  open  sea, 
and  can  swim  for  days  without  resting,  feeding  the 
while.  Then,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  crabs 
living  on  the  land.  The  racing  crab  of  Ceylon, 
which  will  outstrip  the  swiftest  runner,  burrows  in 
the  dry  sand  ;  and  though  it  likes  to  have  its  gills 
moist,  dies  if  held  under  water.  The  frog-crab  of 
the  Indian  ocean  climbs  on  the  roofs  of  houses ; 
the  robber  crab  of  the  Mauritius  lives  in  holes  lined 
with  cocoa-nut  fibre  at  the  roots  of  the  cocoa-nut 
palm,  and  breaking  open  the  nuts  feeds  upon  the 
fruit ;  while  the  land-crab  of  the  West  Indies  burrows 
in  the  ground,  and  goes  only  once  a  year  to  the  sea 
to  lay  her  eggs.  Still  all  these  crabs  retain  enough 
of  their  old  habits  to  like  to  have  their  breathing- 
gills  wet,  and  most  of  them  visit  water  daily  for  this 
purpose,  while  some  of  them  have  a  curious  way  of 
keeping  the  water  enclosed,  and  freshening  it  with 
air,  while  others  use  the  water  till  it  is  exhausted, 
and  then  raise  their  shield  or  carapace  and  breathe 
as  land  animals. 

And  now  after  hearing  of  these  land  crabs,  we 
shall  not  find  it  so  difficult  to  believe  that  the  little 
wood-louse  of  our  gardens,  which  curls  itself  up  like 
a  ball,  and  is  the  only  form  we  have  remaining  like 
the  huge  trilobites  of  ages  gone  by,  is  a  true  crus- 
tacean, adapted  for  breathing  air  though  still  loving 
moist  places. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  sea,  where  a  most 
curious  and  interesting  group  still  remains  for  us  to 
study.  We  have  heard  of  old  families  among  men, 


'74 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


who,  having  met  with  misfortune,  have  had  the  good 
sense  to  set  to  work  and  earn  their  daily  bread  in 
quiet  obscurity  ;  and  among  the  lower  animals  we 

have     seen     that 
Fig.  6 1. 
^  _.  many,     like     the 

sponge  and  oy- 
ster, give  up  the 
free  roving  life  of 
their  childhood, 
and  settle  down 
upon  one  spot. 
But  who  ever  be- 
fore heard  of  a 
creature,  which, 
after  swimming 
about  in  a  ra- 
tional manner 
with  an  eye  or 
eyes  to  see  with, 
and  antennae  to 
feel  with,  behav- 
ing like  an  ordi- 
nary and  respect- 
able individual, 
should  put  its 
forehead  down  to 
a  rock  and  ce- 
ment it  there  by 
means  of  glue  from  its  antennae,  and  should  remain 
thus  all  the  rest  of  its  life  with  its  head  downwards  and 
its  heels  in  the  air,  kicking  its  food  into  its  mouth.J 

*  Lepas.  t  Balanus. 

J  Huxley,  Anatomy  of  Invertebrates,  p.  294, 


A  Group  of  Floating  Barnacles*  with  a 
bank  of  fixed  Acorn- Barnacles f  in  the  fore- 
ground, s,  Fleshy  stalks  growing  from  the 
head  of  the  barnacle  ;  c,  cirrhi  by  which  the 
animals  feed  ;  v,  the  inner  valves  of  the  acorn 
barnacle  which  open  and  close. 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.      175 

Yet  this  is  the  true  history  of  the  barnacles  and 
acorn  barnacles  of  our  coasts,  and  nothing  can 
explain  such  extraordinary  behaviour,  except  the 
overcrowding  of  the  sea,  and  the  struggle  for  life, 
which  drove  these  curious  creatures  to  prefer  feeding 
upside  down  in  places  where  others  left  room  for 
them,  to  starving  in  an  upright  position. 

It  is  worth  while  to  spend  a  short  time  sitting 
by  a  seaside  pool  or  on  the  steps  of  a  pier  to  watch 
the  animals  within  the  white  shelly  cones,  called 
acorn-shells  (Fig.  61,  foreground),  feeding  in  the  sea- 
water.  Each  little  cone  is  made  of  a  number  of 
shelly  pieces,  and  in  the  middle  of  these  you  will  see 
from  time  to  time  two  valves  (v)  open,  through  which 
a  tuft  of  feathery  transparent  fingers  (c)  is  thrust  out, 
looking  like  a  curl  of  delicate  hair.*  Then  after 
opening  out  in  the  water,  the  curl  is  drawn  up  again 
just  as  you  are  beginning  to  admire  it,  and  the  valves 
close.  Not  for  long,  however,  for  almost  imme- 
diately they  open  again  and  the  same  process  is  re- 
peated ;  so  that  in  a  group  of  acorn  barnacles  all  is 
in  motion  as  one  after  another  sweeps  the  sea  for 
food. 

These  tufts  are  in  fact  the  fringed  legs  of  the 
balanus,  as  the  creature  is  called  ;  and  looking  at 
him  as  he  is  fastened  down  inside  the  shell,  you  will 
see  that  he  is  something  like  a  rough  attempt  at  a 
shrimp,  lying  on  its  back,  mouth  uppermost,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  seize  and  devour  the  minute  creatures  of 
the  sea  drawn  in  by  the  fringes  of  the  legs. 

In  this  way  safely  ensconced  in  his  jointed  shelly 
carapace  of  carbonate  of  lime,  it  is  easy  to  see  that 

*  These  fingers  are  called  cirrhi,  from  cirrhits,  a  curl  or  lock  of  hair. 


176 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


the  balanus  lives  more  securely  than  if  he  had  re- 
mained a  freely  roving  creature  as  we  see  him  at 

i,  Fig.  62  ;  and  the 
success  of  his  re- 
tirement to  a  fixed 
life  is  proved  by  the 
countless  number  of 
acorn  -  shells  which 
are  found  on  every 
sea-shore.  The  lepas 
or  barnacle  with 
stalks  (Fig.  61),  you 
will  see  less  often, 
for  they  live  in  deeper 
water  attached  to 
rocks  or  pieces  of 
floating  timber. 
Their  history  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the 

Development  of  an  Acorn  Barnacle.         acom-shell,only  that 

1,  A  young   acorn  barnacle  before  it   from    the   cement   of 
has  settled  down. — Spence  Bate.  their   antennae  they 

2,  The  grown-up  acorn  barnacle  cut  in  /•     ,          i__  fl^oV.,, 
halfj  *,  head  cemented  to  the  shell;   *,  form       long       ^^ 
back  ;  m,  position  of  the  mouth  ;  c,  cirrhi  Stalks    which    fasten 
fringing  the  legs  which  sweep  in  the  food  ;  the  head   to  its   sup. 
v,  valves  of  the  shell. — Darwin. 

port. 

And  here  we  must  take  leave  of  the  Crustacea. 
We  have  really  only  made  acquaintance  with  three 
branches;  1st,  the  ten-footed  and  stalk-eyed  crus- 
taceans, the  prawns,  and  crabs  ;  2d,  those  with  eyes 
fixed  in  the  shell  and  breathing-gills  fixed  to  the  legs, 
the  sandhoppers,  and  skeleton  shrimps  ;  and  3d,  the 
barnacles.  But  these  by  no  means  represent  even 


THE  MAILED  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA.      177 

the  chief  forms.  The  King-crab"'  of  the  Moluccas, 
with  his  horseshoe  carapace  and  spiked  tail,  repre- 
sents a  whole  race  which  flourished  long  before  the 
coal-forests  grew.  The  beautiful  little  fairy-shrimpsf 
of  our  ponds  are  another  type  whose  feet  are  used  as 
breathing-gills,  while  the  tiny  water-flea  J  and  cypris 
of  our  ponds  are  true  crustaceans,  though  they  have 
two-valved  shells  like  a  scallop. 

The  histories  of  these  little  beings  are  as  yet  not 
much  known,  and  in  truth  it  is  impossible  to  follow 
out  all  the  strange  vagaries  of  the  Crustacea  with- 
out making  them  a  life  study.  Even  when  we  have 
exhausted  those  which  live  independent  lives,  there 
remains  a  whole  mass  of  parasites  which  fix  them- 
selves on  the  backs  and  in  the  gills  of  fishes,  and 
even  under  the  tails  of  their  distant  relations  the 
crabs  and  lobsters. 

Thus  we  find  that  these  "insects  of  the  sea" 
have  spread  everywhere  where  there  is  water,  and 
have  even  found  their  way  on  to  the  land.  Yet 
they  are  scarcely  likely  ever  to  make  much  way  on 
dry  ground,  for  we  have  seen  that  they  have  always 
a  lingering  tendency  to  breathe  water,  and  therefore 
they  are  at  a  disadvantage  among  the  myriads  of 
insects  fitted  for  the  air.  Meanwhile,  though  we 
may  know  more  of  the  habits  of  the  spider  and  ant, 
than  of  the  crabs  and  the  barnacles  which  hide  from 
us  in  the  ocean,  yet  those  who  love  to  study  compli- 
cated family  history  will  find  no  class  in  the  animal 
kingdom  with  such  an  interesting  and  involved 
genealogy  as  that  of  the  Crustacea  or  crust-covered 
animals. 

*  Limulus.  t  Branchipus.  £  Daphne. 


I78 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    SNARE-WEAVERS   AND    THEIR    HUNTING 
RELATIONS. 

So  dangles  o'er  the  brook,  depending  low, 

The  spider  artist,  till  propitious  breeze 

Buoy  her  athwart  the  stream.     From  shore  to  shore 

She  fastens  then  her  horizontal  thread, 

Sufficient  bridge,  and  traversing  alert 

Her  fine-spun  radii  flings  from  side  to  side, 

Shapes  her  concentric  circles  without  art, 

And,  all  accomplished,  couches  in  the  midst, 

Herself  the  centre  of  her  flimsy  toils. 

HURDIS. 


T  was  a  hot  spring  night  on 
the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  in 
the  south  of  France,  and  the  hum 
of  the  night  insects  filled  the  air. 
The  night-beetles  were  flying  hither 
and  thither,  and  the  crickets  on  the 
terraces  of  the  olive -groves  were 
loudly  chirping  their  love-songs. 
One  in  particular,  whose  dark  brown 
body  could  scarcely  be  distinguished 
against  the  bank  even  by  nocturnal 
enemies,  was  working  his  wing-cases 
with  a  will  and  sending  out  a  clear 
and  piercing  cry.  He  little  thought 
that  he  was  sounding  his  own  death-note,  but  so  it  was, 


THE  SNARE-WEAVERS. 


179 


for  behind  him  from  under  a  large  stone  in  a  damp 
corner  in  the  side  of  the  bank,  an  enemy  was  stealthily 
approaching. 

Any  one  who  had  been  lately  studying  prawns  and 
lobsters  in  the  sea  on  this  same  shore,  would  almost 
have  fancied  that  this  enemy  was  a  curious  small  lob- 
ster which  had  come  upon  the  land,  for  two  large 
claws  were  stretched  on  each  side  of  his  head,  and 
with  them  he  felt  his  way  as  he  crawled  along;  his 


Fig-  63. 


Scorpion  with  a  Cricket  in  its  claws. 
s,  Shield  or  carapace ;    m  c,  mouth  claws ;   /,  pincers ;   d,  poison  dart. 

jointed  feet  were  cased  in  horny  armour,  and  so  was 
his  whole  body,  which  had  a  shield  over  the  head 
and  shoulders  as  a  prawn  has  ;  while  his  tail,  which 
dragged  heavily  behind  him,  was  covered  with  the 
same  kind  of  horny  rings.  Two  large  eyes,  with 
some  smaller  ones  near  them,  shone  in  the  front  of 
his  head,  and  he  was  slowly  but  surely  advancing 
upon  the  unconscious  cricket.  And  now,  he  was 
close  upoji  him,  and  in  a  second,  almost  too  quickly 


i8o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

for  the  movement  to  be  seen,  the  long  claws  were 
thrown  forward,  and  the  cricket  was  seized  and  held 
up  in  the  air.  But  our  friend  had  no  intention  of 
yielding  so  easily,  he  was  strong,  and  he  struggled 
violently — in  vain,  for  his  captor  briskly  curled  up 
the  long  tail  which  had  till  now  seemed  such  a 
burden  to  him,  and  from  the  tip  of  it  thrust  a 
poisoned  dart  into  the  body  of  his  victim.  So  the 
sturdy  cricket  died  in  the  grasp  of  the  Scorpion. 

Nor  was  his  captor  long  in  devouring  his  prey. 
Bringing  the  cricket  down  to  his  mouth  he  pierced 
his  skin  with  the  sharp  pincers  (p,  Fig.  63),  which 
take  the  place  of  antennae  on  his  head,  and  soon 
sucked  out  the  juices  of  his  body ;  then  dropping  the 
empty  skin  he  went  dragging  slowly  on  his  way,  in 
search  either  of  fresh  food  or  to  find  some  mate 
wandering  like  himself. 

Plenty  of  these  fierce  little  Scorpions,  which  hide 
under  stones  by  day  and  come  out  by  night,  may  be 
found  in  the  warm  sunny  south,  and  though  they 
look  so  like  crustaceans,  they  are  true  land  animals. 
They  have  no  means  of  spinning,  and  have  a  poison 
dart  in  the  tail  quite  peculiar  to  themselves,  yet  they 
belong  to  the  spider  family,  as  may  be  seen  by  their 
eight  pairs  of  legs,  their  sharp  pincers  which  take  the 
place  of  the  antennae  of  insects,  their  claws  which 
are  part  of  their  mouth-pieces  and  are  fixed  to  the 
jaws,  and  the  narrow  slits  under  the  abdomen 
through  which  they  take  in  air  to  breathe.  They 
lead  but  a  lonely  life ;  for  whether  in  the  sandy 
plains  of  Africa,  where  they  are  often  as  much  as  a 
foot  long,  or  in  the  burning  heat  of  South  America, 
or  on  the  warm  bright  shores  of  Italy,  each  scorpion 


THE  SNARE-  WE  A  VERS.  181 

burrows  under  his  own  protecting  stone,  rarely  having 
any  other  with  him.  Even  in  summer  it  is  only 
at  night  that  they  seek  companionship;  while  in  the 
winter  they  burrow  deep  in  the  ground  and  sleep 
till  the  warmth  comes  round  again. 

While  the  spider  is  the  industrious  and  skilful 
snare-weaver  of  its  class,  the  scorpion  is  the  fierce 
bandit,  knowing  well  the  power  of  its  sting  and  the 
terror  it  inspires ;  and  like  the  bandit  it  lives  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  warfare,  flinging  its  tail  over  its 
head  and  extending  its  claws  at  the  least  alarm,  and 
either  fighting  till  death  or  running  rapidly  back- 
wards facing  its  foe,  till  it  reaches  a  place  of  safety. 
And  in  like  manner  as  the  robber's  wife,  shut  out  from 
the  companionship  of  the  rest  of  womankind,  will 
love  and  defend  her  children  with  wild  devotion,  so 
the  female  scorpion  will  carry  her  young  brood  for 
many  weeks  after  they  are  born,  clustering  all  over 
her  back,  till  they  are  able  to  fight  for  themselves. 

We  must  not,  however,  pause  long  over  these 
solitary  and  dangerous  creatures,  for  a  far  more 
interesting  group  of  the  spider  class  flourishes  here 
in  our  own  country,  where  all  who  wish  may  study 
its  members. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  lingering  in  the  warm  south, 
let  us  return  to  England,  where,  in  the  cracks  of 
some  old  paling,  or  under  the  leaves  of  a  shrub  on  a 
summer's  evening  after  some  days  of  thunder  and 
rain,  we  may  find  a  common  garden  spider  *  lying 
crumpled  up  as  if  half  dead.  Her  web,  long  ago 
destroyed  by  the  wind  and  the  rain,  has  left  her  no 
means  of  getting  food  for  many  long  hours,  and  she 

*  Epeira  diadem  a. 


1 82  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

is  waiting  patiently  till  the  weather  will  allow  her  to 
spin  fresh  snares.  How  mean  and  shrivelled  and 
helpless  she  looks,  any  one  will  know  who  has  ever 
found  a  spider  in  this  deplorable  condition  ;  and  cer- 
tainly no  one  at  first  sight  would  imagine  that  this 
crumpled -looking  object  could  have  the  ingenuity 
and  skill  to  weave  the  web  which  a  few  hours  later 
will  be  stretched  across  the  bushes.  And  yet,  as  set 
free  from  your  hand  she  hurries  away,  scrambling 
over  the  ground  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  or 
dropping  nimbly  by  means  of  her  almost  invisible 
thread,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  is  both  active 
and  intelligent ;  and  a  little  patient  examination  will 
show  that  the  poor  despised  spider,  which  for  some 
unknown  reason  is  so  often  disliked  by  mankind,  is 
one  of  the  most  industrious  and  cleanly,  skilful  and 
patient  of  life's  children  ;  while  she  carries  upon  her 
body  some  of  the  most  curious  implements  ever  de- 
vised, for  doing  her  work  in  the  world. 

Look  at  her  limbs  in  their  jointed  casings  (Fig.  64), 
and  you  will  see  that  here  is  the  same  outside  horny 
skeleton  as  in  the  prawn  and  the  scorpion,  with 
elastic  skin  between  the  joints  ;  but  her  abdomen  (a) 
has  almost  entirely  lost  the  traces  of  rings,  and  is 
often  covered  with  fine  down  ;  while  her  head  and 
shoulders,  welded  like  theirs  into  one  piece  (t),  are 
sturdy  and  strong,  giving  her  great  advantage  in 
attacking  and  devouring  the  numerous  insects  which 
fall  victims  to  her  bloodthirsty  appetite. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  at  first  that  she  has 
antennae,  for  two  short  feelers  (p  p,  Fig.  64)  stand 
out  in  front  of  her  head.  But  these,  like  the  claws 
of  the  scorpion,  are  part  of  her  jaws  (/),  and  are 


THE  SNARE-WEAVERS. 


183 


fastened  on  to  them.  None  of  the  spider  family  have 
any  true  antennae.  In  the  scorpion  we  found  them 
turned  into  pincers  (pt  Fig.  63)  ;  in  the  spider  they 

Fig.  64. 


Parts  of  a  Spider. 

1,  Under  part  of  a  spider's  body.     /,  Thorax  or  chest  from  which 
the  eight  legs  spring,  and  to  which  the  head  is  united  in  one  piece  ; 
f,  fangs ;  /,  palpi  or  feelers  attached  to  the  jaws  ;  a,  abdomen ;  b, 

breathing  slits ;  j,  six  spinnerets  with  thread  coming  from  them. 

2,  Front  of  spider's   head,      e,   Eyes ;    /,  palpi ;   /,  front    legs ; 
h,  hasp  of  fangs  ;  /,  poison  fangs  ;  _/,  outer  jaws. 

have  become  most  dangerous  and  powerful  fangs  (/  i , 
and  7/,/2,  Fig.  64),  which  hang  down  over  her  mouth; 
and  while  the  scorpion  carries  her  poison  in  her  tail, 


184  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

the  spider  bears  it  in  her  head,  and,  as  we  shall  pre- 
sently see,  pours  it  into  her  victim  through  these 
pointed  weapons  (/). 

But  now,  while  we  are  talking  of  her,  our  friend 
the  spider  is  beginning  to  grow  restless,  for  as  even- 
ing draws  on  and  the  temperature  of  the  air  and 
other  signs  promise  a  fine  night,  she  is  anxious  to 
spin  a  new  web,  so  as  not  to  go  supperless  to  bed. 
Have  you  any  idea  how  she  does  this  ?  for  she  has 
nothing  but  her  own  body  both  to  supply  the 
material  and  the  machinery  for  the  work. 

Look  carefully  under  her  abdomen,  and  near  the 
tip  you  will  find  six  little  nipples  (s),  looking  some- 
thing like  miniature  copies  of  the  teats  of  a  cow. 
Under  these  nipples,  inside  her  body,  there  are  special 
glands,  in  which  a  kind  of  gum  is  secreted,  and  this 
dries  when  it  comes  into  the  air,  and  forms  the  silken 
thread  from  which  the  spider  hangs,  and  out  of  which 
she  forms  her  web.  And  now  comes  the  almost 
incredible  part  of  the  story.  These  nipples,  which 
are  called  "spinnerets?  have  not  merely  one  opening 
like  a  cow's  teat,  but  each  one,  tiny  as  it  is,  is  pierced 
with  at  least  a  hundred  holes,  and  when  the  spider 
begins  her  web,  more  than  six  hundred  separate 
strands  go  to  make  the  one  slender  thread  which 
you  see  stretched  out  from  her  body.  The  four 
spinnerets  nearest  the  tail  give  out  the  long  threads, 
the  two  above,  moving  from  side  to  side,  weave  the 
whole  into  one  connected  line.  Nor  is  this  all,  for 
the  spider  can  close  any  of  the  holes  at  will,  and  a 
fine  or  a  coarse,  a  dry  or  a  spangled  thread  comes 
from  her  body,  according  to  the  use  she  wishes  to 
make  of  it. 


THE  SNARE -WE A  VERS.  185 

But  when  the  thread  is  made,  how  is  it  to  be 
drawn  out  and  guided  on  its  way  ?  Under  the 
microscope  her  feet  are  seen  to  be  formed  of  three 
claws,  the  middle  one  longer  and  bent,  so  as  to  grasp 
the  threads  as  she  runs,  and  the  other  two  toothed 
liked  combs.  With  these  combs  and  the  spines 
and  hairs  upon  her  legs  she  manipulates  the  tender 

Fig.  65. 


Web  of  the  Garden  Spider. 

thread  as  it  oozes  from  her  body  and  does  with  it 
what  she  will. 

And  now  let  us  watch  her  at  her  work.  Running 
hither  and  thither,  she  first  selects  a  spot  (c]  to  start 
from,  and  pressing  her  spinnerets  against  it  leaves 
there  a  little  lump  of  sticky  silk.  Then  standing 
quite  still  she  gives  out  from  her  spinnerets  a  light 
floating  thread.  Longer  and  longer  it  grows  and 


1 86  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

floats  in  the  evening  air,  and  by  and  by  the  end 
catches  on  some  bush,  let  us  say  at  the  point  d. 
Instantly  the  spider  feels  the  pull,  and  fastening  the 
end  out  of  her  own  body  to  the  sticky  lump  c,  she 
runs  along  the  line  c  d,  strengthening  it  with  silk  as 
she  goes.  That  line  being  firm  she  can  use  it  as  her 
tight-rope,  and  running  from  bush  to  bush  may  either 
let  fresh  threads  float,  or  carry  them  with  her  from 
point  to  point  till  she  has  made  a  square  or  triangle 
of  threads  (c,  d,  e,  f),  anchored  here  and  there  to 
the  leaves  and  stems.  And  now  she  must  make 
the  cross  lines,  so  going  to  the  middle  (a)  of  the 
highest  line  she  drops  down,  and  swinging  to  and  fro 
catches  the  lower  line  and  stretches  a  vertical 
cord  (a  8). 

Then  she  is  ready  to  begin  the  web.  Up  to  this 
time  she  has  been  obliged  to  work  slowly  and  with 
many  difficulties,  but  from  this  moment  the  work 
goes  on  apace.  Running  to  the  middle  of  the  line 
a  b  she  fixes  her  thread  there  and  then  goes  on  to 
the  other  side,  carrying  the  line  with  her  and  keeping 
it  carefully  with  her  feet  from  clinging  to  the  one  on 
which  she  runs.  Arrived  at  the  stretched  line  she 
fastens  this  loose  thread  to  it  at  I,  and  so  makes  one 
of  the  spokes  of  the  wheel.  Then  moving  a  little 
farther  along  she  fixes  another  end  at  2,  and  running 
back  to  the  centre  forms  another  spoke ;  and  so  on 
through  3,  4,  etc.,  till  all  the  spokes  are  made. 
Then  she  goes  back  to  the  middle,  and  walking  care- 
fully round  and  round  the  spokes  lays  down  a 
winding  thread  from  the  centre  to  the  outside,  fixing 
it  to  each  of  the  spokes  by  a  minute  drop  of  gum. 
At  first  this  thread  is  dry  and  hard,  but  when  the 


THE  SNARE-WEAVERS.  187 

spider  is  at  a  short  distance  from  the  centre  she 
changes  her  material  and  gives  out  a  beautiful  fine 
thread,  spangled  at  every  point  with  minute  drops  of 
gum,  which  will  not  harden  in  the  air  ;*  so  that  by 
the  time  she  has  reached  the  end  of  the  spokes  she 
has  left  behind  her  a  glorious  spangled  web,  closely 
woven  and  wonderfully  elastic,  because  the  drops  of 
gum  yield  gently  as  the  web  sways,  while  they  are 
so  sticky  that  no  insect  flying  against  the  web  is 
likely  to  get  away  again. 

In  this  manner,  in  about  three-quarters  of  an 
hour,  the  nimble  little  spider  has  woven  a  snare 
measuring  perhaps  half  a  yard  across  and  spangled 
with  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  gum-drops,  and 
there  is  yet  time  for  some  of  the  late  flies  to  be 
caught  before  night  comes  on.  She  has  left  the 
middle  of  the  web  with  its  dry  scaffolding  thread, 
because  it  is  there  that  she  hangs  head  downwards 
waiting  for  her  prey.  Sometimes,  however,  she  will 
prefer  hiding  herself  under  some  leaves  in  a  bush, 
and  then  she  will  carry  with  her  a  strong  thread  (g) 
attached  to  the  middle  of  the  web  to  give  her  warning 
of  any  disturbance.  And  now  a  good-sized  fly  comes 
buzzing  along,  and  running  its  body  against  the  web 
gives  it  a  shake.  Instantly 

"  The  spider's  touch,  how  exquisitely  fine, 
Feels  at  each  thread  and  lives  along  the  line," 

and  almost  before  you  can  see  her,  she  has  'darted 

*  Mr.  Emerton,  an  American  naturalist,  who  has  watched  the 
Epeira  at  work  there,  states  that  she  lays  down  first  a  dry  scaffolding 
from  the  centre  to  the  circumference,  and  then  working  back  again, 
destroys  this  hard  thread  as  she  lays  clown  the  spangled  one.  Mr.  A. 
Butler  and  Mr.  Lowne,  however,  both  assure  me  that  they  have  often 
seen  the  English  garden-spider  spin  her  web,  and  that  she  invariably 
lays  down  the  gummy  thread  at  once. 


1 88  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

from  her  hiding-place  to  the  centre  of  the  web. 
Here  she  herself  gives  it  a  shake  to  find  whether  it 
will  be  answered,  showing  that  a  live  object  is  causing 
the  disturbance.  The  unfortunate  fly  quivers  in  the 
toils,  betraying  its  whereabouts,  and  straight  the 
spider  darts  upon  it,  and  with  one  sharp  bite  ends  its 
life.  It  is  not  however,  strictly  speaking,  with  her 
mouth  that  she  has  bitten  it,  but  with  those  two 
poison  fangs  which  we  spoke  of  just  now,  which  hang 
down  over  the  mouth.  While  she  was  spinning  her 
web,  or  patiently  waiting  under  the  leaves,  these  fangs 
(/)  were  shut  into  the  cases  above  them  (h  /z)  just 
as  a  clasp  knife  is  shut  into  its  handle  ;  but  directly 
she  seized  her  prey  they  were  opened,  and  the  sharp 
points  driven  into  the  fly's  body  gave  out  poison  from 
their  tips,  and  quickly  put  an  end  to  its  life. 

And  now,  being  hungry,  she  seizes  the  dead  fly 
with  the  two  feelers  or  palpi  of  her  jaws,  and  hold- 
ing it  to  her  mouth  sucks  out  its  tender  juices  ;  and 
she  has  no  need  to  pause  for  breath,  for  you  will 
remember  that  she  does  not  breathe  through  her 
mouth.  It  is  under  her  abdomen  that  you  must 
look  for  the  two  narrow  slits  (b\  through  which  air 
is  taken  into  sacs  within  her  body. 

But  another  interruption  occurs.  While  she  is 
still  busy  with  her  meal,  a  fresh  shake  of  the  web 
informs  her  that  a  new  victim  is  caught,  and  she 
hastens  to  the  spot.  This  time  it  is  a  strong  night- 
beetle  which  is  caught  in  the  toils,  and  she  cannot 
grapple  with  him  so  rashly  as  with  the  fly,  while  his 
struggles  threaten  to  break  the  net.  In  this  dilemma 
she  has  a  stratagem  ready.  Pressing  her  spinnerets 
against  the  web,  she  begins  to  weave  round  him  a 


THE  SNARE-  WE  A  VERS.  189 

covering  of  silk,  and  going  closer  and  closer  as  his 
legs  are  entangled,  she  twists  him  round  and  round 
with  her  feet  till,  quite  enveloped,  he  can  struggle  no 
longer  and  receives  his  death-blow. 

But  if  by  chance  it  had  been  a  wasp,  and  she 
dreaded  its  sting,  she  herself  would  have  torn  the 
strands  of  the  web  and  let  it  fly  away  sooner  than 
run  the  risk  of  being  the  conquered  instead  of  the 
conqueror. 

So  the  garden  spider  lives,  spreading  her  snares 
with  wonderful  skill  and  care,  running  and  dropping 
from  her  thread  with  agility  and  precision,  and 
making  great  havoc  in  the  insect  world  with  her 
poisonous  fangs  ;  and  if  you  ask  what  apparatus  she 
has  within  to  guide  all  these  wonderful  actions,  we 
must  go  back  again  to  the  knots  of  nervous  matter 
which  we  found  in  the  body  of  the  leech.  For  here 
in  the  spider  we  find  that  many  of  these  knots  are 
clustered  thickly  together  in  the  head  and  neck, 
forming  what  might  almost  be  called  a  brain,  and 
connected  with  the  line  of  knots  running  along  in 
the  under  part  of  the  abdomen.  Thus,  while  the 
spider  is  endowed  with  many  tools  and  weapons  upon 
her  body,  she  has  also  a  strong  battery  of  nerve 
power  within  to  govern  them. 

Nor  can  we  doubt  that  she  owes  to  the  stern 
lessons  of  life  much  of  her  skill  and  intelligence. 
She  has  to  undergo  sad  privations,  and  in  bad 
weather,  when  starvation  stares  her  in  the  face,  she 
is  often  driven  to  wander  in  search  of  such  insects 
as  she  can  catch  ;  while  long  experience  has  taught 
her  race  never  to  spin  a  web  when  it  would  be 
destroyed  by  wind  or  rain,  but  to  fast  patiently  or 


190  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

trust  to  seizing  any  small  insects  coming  within  her 
reach  rather  than  to  use  the  small  stock  of  silk 
which  cannot  be  replenished  till  she  gets  fresh  food. 

You  may  perhaps  wonder  that  all  this  time  we 
have  spoken  of  the  spider  as  "  she,"  but  the  truth  is 
that  the  female  spiders  do  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
work,  for  the  male  spiders  are  much  smaller,  and 
very  rarely  spin  webs.  They  seem  to  live  much  at 
the  expense  of  their  wives,  and,  sad  to  relate,  are 
very  often  killed  by  their  spouses  when  these  are 
tired  of  their  company. 

And  now,  if  the  female  spider  succeeds  in  getting 
a  living  and  escaping  the  birds  and  other  enemies 
until  the  autumn,  she  spins  a  strong  cocoon  of 
yellow  silk  which  she  secures  under  some  stone  or 
into  a  crack  in  the  wall,  and  though  it  measures 
scarcely  half-an-inch  across,  yet  she  manages  to  pack 
into  it  from  six  to  eight  hundred  eggs,  and  then 
leaves  it ;  and  next  spring,  when  the  warm  weather 
comes,  the  young  spiders  struggle  out  of  the  eggs, 
and  working  themselves  free  from  the  skin  which 
hampers  their  limbs,  cling  together  in  a  ball  for 
about  a  month,  and  then  separate  and  begin  to  spin 
webs  as  their  mother  did  before  them.  They  cast 
their  skin  many  times  before  they  are  grown  up,  and 
even  afterwards  they  creep  out  of  it  once  a  year  and 
begin  again  with  a  fresh  bright  coat. 

From  this  garden  spider  we  have  learnt  to  know 
roughly  the  manner  of  life  of  the  spinning  spiders, 
and  the  tools  with  which  they  work  ;  but  their 
devices  for  gaining  a  living,  the  nature  of  their  webs, 
and  the  different  nooks  and  corners  they  find  for 
shelter,  are  almost  endless.  Look  at  the  common 


THE  SNARE-  WE  A  VERS.  191 

house-spider  instead  of  carelessly  sweeping  her  web 
away,  and  you  will  find  that  she  lays  her  threads 
roughly  in  all  directions  in  the  corner  of  the  room, 
running  from  one  to  another  till  she  has  filled  it  up 
with  a  fine  web,  not  sticky,  but  so  entangled  that 
the  flies  catch  their  feet  in  its  meshes.  In  one 
corner  you  will  find  a  little  silken  tube  like  a 
thimble  which  she  has  made  as  a  house  to  hide 
in,  out  of  sight  of  her  prey.  Her  web  will  last 
for  many  weeks,  while  the  garden-spider  must  spin 
afresh  or  mend  her  web  every  twenty-four  hours,  but 
on  the  other  hand  the  house-spider  is  less  likely  to 
have  an  abundant  supply  of  insects  and  her  web  is 
often  ruthlessly  destroyed.  She  will  sometimes  live 
from  six  to  eight  years,  and  each  year  she  lays  her 
eggs  in  a  cocoon  and  hides  them  in  a  tuft  of  silk 
thickened  with  scraps  of  whitewash  and  plaster,  and 
broods  over  them  till  the  young  ones  are  born.  In 
the  walls  of  some  outhouse  or  warm  greenhouse  you 
may  often  find  small  spiders'  webs  in  the  summer 
time,  with  three  or  four  cocoons  in  them,  and 
numbers  of  tiny  spiders  creeping  out  upon  the  web. 

Then  look  carefully  on  a  summer's  morning 
among  the  gorse  and  heath  of  a  common,  and  you 
will  find  delicate  webs  spread  almost  on  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  Instead  of  trampling  these  under  foot, 
seek  out  the  centre  of  each  web,  and  there,  in  many 
cases,  you  will  find  a  hole  leading  straight  into  a 
tunnel  in  the  ground.  This  tunnel  will  be  lined  by 
a  tough  web,  while  at  the  bottom  the  little  spider  will 
be  crouching,  her  feet  resting  on  the  threads,  and 
ready  in  a  moment  to  dart  out  when  the  toils  are 
shaken.  This  spider  has  learnt  how  to  hide  herself 


192 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


from  the  birds,  the  squirrels,  the  frogs,  and  the  toads, 
which  devour  her  neighbours,  while  at  the  same  time 
she  spreads  her  nets  and  catches  the  beetles  or  the 


Nest  of  one  of  the  Trap-door  Spiders. — Moggiidge. 
D,  The  door  which  closes  naturally  by  its  own  elasticity  and  weight ; 
m,  marks  of  the  spider's  claws  where  she  has  held  it  down  from  inside. 

midges  for  her  daily  food.  If  when  wandering  along 
the  country  lanes  you  look  carefully  in  the  loose  soil 
of  the  bank,  or  the  crevices  of  old  stone  walls  you  can 


THE  SNARE-WEAVERS.  193 

scarcely  fail  to  find  some  of  these  tiny  webs  leading 
into  silk-lined  holes  where  the  spider  is  waiting  for 
her  prey. 

Yet  even  these  are  not  the  most  clever  of  all 
spiders,  for  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  you 
may  find  some  which  not  only  live  in  silk-lined 
tunnels  but  actually  make  doors  to  their  houses  (see 
Fig.  66).  These  doors  are  made  of  layers  of  web 
and  earth,  and  they  shut  down  naturally  by  their 
own  weight,  so  as  to  be  quite  hidden  by  the  grass 
growing  over  them  ;  but,  if  by  chance  they  are  dis- 
turbed, the  spider  herself  will  often  rush  to  the  top 
of  the  tube  and  sticking  her  claws  into  the  door 
(D  m,  Fig.  66),  will  hold  it  down  with  all  her  might 
as  she  presses  her  body  against  the  sides  of  her 
home. 

Now  see  how  this  spider  gains  her  living.  A 
naturalist  named  Erber  once  sat  out  for  many  hours 
on  a  moonlight  night  watching  her  doings,  and  soon 
after  nine  o'clock  he  saw  two  of  these  spiders  come 
out  each  from  their  holes,  and  pushing  open  their 
doors,  fasten  them  back  by  fine  threads  to  the  blades 
of  grass  near,  and  then  spin  a  web  round  the  open 
hole  and  go  back  into  their  tunnels.  By  and  by  two 
night-beetles  were  caught,  one  in  each  web,  and  in 
an  instant  the  spiders  darted  out  and  pierced  their 
victims  with  their  poisoned  fangs,  sucked  out  their 
soft  flesh  and  then  carried  the  empty  bodies  away 
to  some  distance  from  their  holes.  Then  Erber  left 
them,  and  in  the  morning  the  spiders  had  cleared 
away  all  trace  of  the  webs  and  were  shut  down 
snugly  in  their  hidden  homes. 

Which   among  us   works  more  cleverly  or  with 


194  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

more  industry  for  daily  bread  than  these  little 
spiders  ?  and  they  do  it  too  among  many  difficulties 
and  dangers,  for  the  birds  and  lizards  are  watching 
above  ground  to  make  a  meal  of  them,  and  the 
centipedes  and  other  crawling  insects  creep  into 
their  holes  to  attack  them.  Some  of  them  have 
learned  a  means  of  escaping  even  this  danger,  for 
they  make  a  second  tunnel  branching  out  of  the  first, 
and  build  a  doorway  between  the  two  so  that  they 
can  retreat  into  the  second  passage  in  case  of  attack, 
and  setting  their  back  against  the  door  baffle  the 
intruder. 

So  in  the  air  and  on  and  under  the  earth,  the 
spiders  spin  their  webs,  and  since  they  must  try 
every  means  of  gaining  a  living  in  this  struggling 
world,  there  are  some,  such  as  the  wolf-spiders,  which, 
instead  of  spinning  webs  and  waiting  for  their  prey 
to  come  to  them,  search  for  it  among  the  low  bushes 
and  leaves  and  grass,  and  use  their  spinners  chiefly 
for  letting  themselves  drop  from  a  height,  or  for  spin- 
ning their  cocoons,  and  lining  the  holes  in  the  walls 
where  they  retire  for  their  winter  sleep.  You  may 
find  these  running  about  in  the  woods  and  on  heaths, 
and  if  you  catch  them  about  June  you  will  find 
each  one  carrying  a  snowy-white  ball  under  her  body. 
This  is  her  cocoon,  containing  about  a  hundred 
eggs,  and  if  you  try  to  take  it  away  she  will  fight 
for  it  as  courageously  as  any  human  mother.  I 
took  away  one  three  times  from  a  mother  on  Keston 
Common  last  summer,  and  each  time  she  seized  it 
again,  and  went  off  gaily  with  it  at  last,  none  the 
worse  for  the  struggle. 

Then  there  are  the  leaping-spiders,  which  pounce 


THE  SNARE-WEAVERS. 


'95 


Fig.  67. 


upon  their  prey,  creeping  slowly  along  a  wall  and 
sliding  nearer  and 
nearer,  till  sudden- 
ly they  leap,  and 
seizing  the  victim 
kill  it,  and  return 
by  the  silken  thread 
which  connects 
them  with  the  wall 
above,  and  saves 
them  if  they  fall 
too  far.  These 
spiders  often  roll 
up  their  cocoons 
in  the  leaves  of 
some  bush  where 
you  may  find  them 
in  the  early  spring. 
The  hunters  and 

leapers  can  often  A  Hunting  Spide 
find  food  which 
does  not  come  in  the  way  of  the  web-spinners,  and 
when  all  the  domains  of  earth  and  air  are  overrun, 
then  there  are  other  kinds  which  take  to  the  water. 
How  few  people  think  as  they  walk  through  quiet 
country-lanes,  that  in  the  deep  watery  ditches  often 
to  be  found  near  rivers  which  run  in  low  ground, 
a  little  water-spider  may  be  living,  coming  to  the 
top  to  breathe  as  a  diver  does,  and  carrying  down 
air  -bubbles  entangled  in  the  fur  which  covers  her 
body  and  between  her  legs,  and  so  filling  a  curious 
domed  hall  which  she  has  built  in  the  water  below. 

*  Dolomedes  mirabilis, 


a  bag  °f  eggs' 


r 96  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

It  is  worth  some  trouble  to  find  this  wonderful 
little  creature,  which  has  often  been  seen  in  the  fens 
of  Cambridgeshire,  and  in  the  ditches  near  Oxford, 
and  also  in  Ireland,  and  which,  though  fitted  to 
breathe  in  the  air,  has  learnt  to  take  refuge  in  the 
water,  and  find  there  her  food  and  her  home.  She 
fixes  her  house  on  the  stem  of  some  water-plant, 
spinning  there  a  thimble  of  delicate  silk  into  which  she 
carries  air,  shaken  off  as  bubbles  from  her  body;  and 
this  air  rising  up  to  the  top  of  the  thimble  gradually 
displaces  the  water  and  fills  the  whole  chamber. 
And  so  in  peaceful  but  not  entirely  stagnant  water, 

On  light  sprays  hung, 

By  silk  cords  slung, 

O'er-arched  by  a  silken  dome, 

Is  the  airy  hall 

With  waterproof  wall 

Where  the  spider  makes  her  home, 

and  there  she  lives  quite  dry,  and  spins  her  silken 
cocoon  with  its  hundred  eggs,  out  of  which  come 
the  young  spiders  which  begin  at  once  to  build 
and  live  as  she  does.  Even  when  she  makes  her 
journeys  to  the  surface  to  catch  water-flies  and 
other  insects,  or  to  take  breath,  the  water  does  not 
wet  her,  for  the  bubbles  of  air  which  glisten  over 
her  body,  making  it  shine  like  quicksilver,  keep  her 
skin  dry. 

And  here  we  must  take  leave  of  the  true  spiders, 
which  roam  all  over  the  world,  and  range  in  size  from 
the  huge  hunting  spiders  of  South  America  and 
Ceylon,  whose  legs  will  cover  a  foot  of  ground,  and 
who  have  been  seen  to  prey  upon  young  birds  and 
lizards,  to  the  tiny  red  money-spinner,  which  is  so 


THE  SNARE-  WE  A  VERS.  197 

light  that,  like  others  as  small  as  itself,  it  is  often 
carried  up  in  the  air  as  its  thread  is  caught  in  the 
light  breeze.  It  is  probably  from  the  threads  of 
these  tiny  spiders  that  the  gossamer  webs  are 
formed,  which  may  be  sometimes  seen  on  a  bright 
summer  morning  hanging  in  the  air  entangled  in 
each  other,  either  empty  or  with  their  owners  within 
them. 


Fig  68. 


Water-Spider*  with  its  dome-shaped  cell  full  of  air. 

Whether  they  are  large  or  small,  however,  we 
find  in  all  spiders  the  same  poison  fangs,  the  same 
complex  thread,  and  the  same  scrupulous  neatness 
and  cleanliness,  which  makes  them  keep  every  joint 
and  hair  of  the  body  free  from  dust  and  dirt,  and 
leads  them  to  avoid  any  dead  and  decaying  food 
with  disgust ;  and  a  quickness  of  intelligence  which 

*  Argyroneta  aquatica. 


198  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

leads  them  to  the  most  curious  expedients  for  holding 
their  own  in  the  world. 

But  as  in  other  classes,  so  here  too  we  may  be 
sure  that  lower  kinds  are  filling  nooks  and  corners 
left  by  their  more  advanced  relations,  and  our 
history  of  the  spider  family  will  not  be  complete 
unless  we  cast  a  glance  at  the  tiny  insignificant 
mites  and  ticks,  which  swarm  on  the  land  and  in 
the  water,  and  live  chiefly  on  the  bodies  of  other 
animals. 

These  curious  little  creatures  live  that  double  life, 
which  we  shall  find  afterwards  in  the  true  insects ; 
for  while  young  spiders  are  born  like  the  mother, 
and  only  grow  larger  as  they  cast  their  skins,  the 
mites  run  about  for  some  time  on  six  legs  only,  and 
then  hiding  themselves  in  some  crack  in  the  ground 
lie  motionless  for  many  days,  and  then  come  out 
with  eight  legs  as  minute  spiders,  only  that  their 
body  is  not  divided,  but  is  all  one  round  mass,  and 
they  breathe  by  means  of  curious  air-tubes  like  the 
true  insects. 

It  is  these  tiny  creatures  which  destroy  the 
leaves  of  our  trees,  by  burrowing  into  them  and 
sucking  the  liquid  sap,  leaving  little  yellow  and 
faded  blotches  wherever  they  have  been.  Some- 
times you  may  find  a  leaf  with  a  fine,  almost  invisible, 
web  spread  over  its  under  surface,  and  there  you 
may  be  sure  that  a  complete  colony  of  mites  are 
feeding,  and  bringing  up  their  little  larvae  or  young 
ones,  which,  when  the  leaves  fall  to  the  ground  will 
hide  themselves  under  stones  or  in  the  earth,  and 
come  out  perfect  mites  to  take  to  fresh  trees  and 
form  new  colonies.  Whenever  you  see  the  leaves 


THE  SNARE-  WE  A  VERS.  199 

of  a  vine  spotted  with  red,  there  the  red  mite  has 
been  taking  up  its  home  ;  and  the  gardener  knows 
very  well  how  the  rose-trees  and  acacias  will  pine 
away  when  the  mites  assert  their  right  to  live  upon 
them.  Then  too  there  are  the  water -mites  which 
swarm  in  the  snug  shallows  of  the  wayside  ponds,  or 
sit  on  the  smooth  leaves  of  the  water-plants,  in  which 
they  pierce  holes  for  their  eggs.  These  eggs  by  and 
by  hatch  into  young  larvae,  some  of  which  feed  on 
plants,  while  others  plunge  their  suckers  into  water- 
insects,  and  only  roll  off  to  the  bottom  when  they 
wish  to  hide  themselves,  before  turning  into  the 
perfect  mites  which  again  swim  about  in  company. 

Then  there  are  the  innumerable  mites  and  ticks 
which  live  in  the  feathers  of  birds,  or  on  beetles,  and 
bees,  and  even  on  their  relations  the  spiders,  while 
others  burrow  in  the  flesh  of  mice,  dogs,  and  cattle, 
holding  on  by  sharp  hooks  attached  to  their  mouth, 
and  sucking  the  blood  of  their  victims  ;  and  most 
of  us  have  suffered  from  the  bite  of  the  harvest-bug, 
which  is  a  true  mite,  and  burrows  under  the  skin  of 
animals  and  of  man  himself.  Among  these  mites 
we  find,  just  as  we  did  in  the  parasitic  worms,  that 
the  more  these  tiny  creatures  live  within  and  upon 
other  living  beings,  the  more  do  they  become  degraded 
and  lose  their  active  powers. 

Thus  the  eight- legged  insects  swarm  in  the 
fields,  on  the  trees,  and  in  the  water,  in  our  cheese, 
our  flour,  and  upon  other  animals,  and  with  their 
tiny  weapons  make  good  their  right  to  live  ;  and 
though  we  scarcely  recognise  their  existence  unless 
they  annoy  us  or  spoil  and  destroy  what  we  value, 
yet  the  life-history  of  the  scorpions,  the  spiders,  and 


200  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

the  mites  is  full  of  interest,  and  if  we  could  watch 
them  all  in  their  daily  labour  we  should  find  them 
probably  quite  as  active  and  industrious  as  man  him- 
self, and  in  many  cases  struggling  far  more  bravely 
and  patiently  against  the  thousand  dangers  and 
privations  which  threaten  them  at  every  moment  of 
their  lives. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  SITERS. 


CHAPTER   X. 

INSECT   SUCKERS   AND    BITERS   WHICH    CHANGE 
THEIR    COATS    BUT    NOT   THEIR    BODIES. 

Yet  hark  !  how  through  the  peopled  air 
The  busy  murmur  glows, 
The  insect  youth  are  on  the  wing, 
Eager  to  taste  the  honeyed  spring 
And  float  amid  the  liquid  noon. 
Some  lightly  o'er  the  current  skim  ; 
Some  show  their  gaily  gilded  trim, 
Quick  glancing  to  the  sun.  GRAY. 


F  any  of  us  were  asked  the 
question  "What  is  the  use  of  plants?" 
I  think  there  is  little  doubt  that  we 
should  answer  "  To  make  the  world 
beautiful,  the  air  pure,  and  to  provide 
food  for  man  and  beast."  But  if  the 
same  question  could  be  asked  of  the 
little  green  aphis  clinging  on  to  the 
stem  of  a  rose-tree  (see  Fig.  69),  he 
would  know  nothing  of  the  beauty 
or  the  pure  air,  nor  would  he  think 
of  man  or  beast,  but  he  would  pro- 
bably, answer  that  "  plants  are  made 
for  plant-lice."  And  from  his  point 
of  view  he  would  be  right,  for  there  is  probably  not 
a  single  herb,  or  shrub,  or  tree  in  the  world  which 
has  not  its  own  peculiar  insect,  sucking  the  sap  and 


202  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

living  upon  the  sweet  juices.  We  cannot  do  better 
than  begin  our  history  of  the  six-legged  insects 
by  these  little  plant-suckers  which  we  all  know  so 
well,  calling  them  "  blight  insects "  when  we  find 
them  covering  our  rose-trees,  or  our  geraniums  in 
the  greenhouses,  or  our  apple-trees  in  the  garden. 

Fig.  69. 


The  Rose-Aphides,  or  plant-lice. 

A,  The  wingless  aphis,  like  those  on  the  bud  but  enlarged,  t,  Honey 
tubes.  B,  The  winged  aphis,  enlarged.  B',  Same,  natural  size. 
g,  Blind  grub  feeding  on  the  aphides. 

You  may  easily  find  them  huddled  together  on  a 
stem  or  bud,  raised  on  their  six  slim  legs,  with  their 
heads  close  down  to  the  plant,  and  looking  sleepily 
out  of  their  two  little  brown  eyes  Yet  they  are  by 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  203 

no  means  asleep  but  very  busy,  for  their  mouth, 
which,  like  that  of  all  other  insects,  is  composed  of 
six  parts, -is  so  formed  that  they  can  plunge  it  deep 
into  the  stem  and  suck  and  suck  all  day,  filling  their 
round  green  bodies  with  sweet  sap.  A  wonderful 
little  mouth  it  is,  the  two  lips  being  joined  together 
into  a  kind  of  split  tube,  out  of  which  are  thrust  the 
four  jaws,  in  the  shape  of  long  thin  lancets,  to  pierce 
the  plant.  When  once  these  insects  have  fixed 
themselves  they  never  seem  to  tire  of  sucking,  but 
take  in  so  much  juice  that,  after  passing  through  the 
body,  it  oozes  out  again  at  the  tail  and  the  tips  ot 
two  curious  little  tubes  (/,  Fig.  69)  standing  up  on 
their  backs.  This  juice,  falling  on  the  stems  and 
leaves  of  the  plant,  covers  them  with  those  sticky 
drops  often  called  "  honey-dew." 

It  cannot  be  said  that  these  little  insects  lead 
very  exciting  lives,  for  they  make  no  homes,  neither 
do  they  take  any  care  of  their  young  ones,  and  only 
move  about  when  they  wish  to  fix  upon  some  new 
spot ;  and  yet  they  are  very  interesting,  both  because 
the  ants  visit  them  to  sip  their  sweets,  as  we  shall 
see  in  Chapter  XII.,  and  also  because  they  manage 
to  live  in  such  numbers  in  spite  of  being  so  helpless 
and  stupid. 

The  secret  of  this  is  that  they  have  a  special  way 
of  sending  young  ones  into  the  world.  If  you  look 
at  a  stem  covered  with  plant-lice  towards  the  end  of 
the  summer,  you  will  find  among  the  wingless  sucking 
insects  some  larger  ones  straggling  about  the  plant  (B, 
Fig.  69)  which  have  delicate  transparent  wings.  These 
are  the  fathers  and  mothers,  whose  wings  have  grown 
gradually  under  their  splitting  skins,  and  they  will 
10 


204  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

lay  the  eggs  to  be  hatched  next  year.  But  if  you 
look  in  the  early  spring  you  will  find  no  winged 
plant-lice  or  aphides,  but  only  the  little  round-bodied 
green  forms,  and  yet  new  ones  are  constantly  appear- 
ing !  Where  do  these  come  from  ? 

Do  you  remember  how  the  hydra  of  the  jelly-fish 
went  on  budding  and  budding  for  years  before  another 
true  egg-bearing  jelly-fish  appeared?  (see  p.  64).  Now 
we  have  an  insect  doing  the  same  thing,  for  as  soon 
as  one  of  these  wingless  aphides  is  about  ten  or  twelve 
days  old,  there  come  from  her  body  not  eggs,  but 
young  living  aphides  like  herself,  three,  four,  or  even 
seven  a  day,  which  struggle  over  the  backs  of  their 
companions  till  they  find  a  clear  spot  on  the  stem, 
where  they  fix  their  mouths  and  suck  like  the  others, 
only  moving  to  struggle  out  of  their  skins  about 
three  or  four  times  a  day,  till  they  are  full  grown. 
Then  these  young  ones  begin  to  bud  in  the  same 
way  in  their  turn,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time  from 
two  or  three  mothers -a  whole  plant  is  covered.  In 
fact  it  has  been  reckoned  that  a  single  aphis 
may  give  rise  in  one  summer,  to  a  quintillion 
(i  ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)  of 
little  ones  ! 

After  this  we  shall  not  be  surprised  that  the 
plant-lice  have  taken  possession  of  so  many  of  the 
green  things  in  the  world,  and  the  only  wonder  is 
that  they  have  not  destroyed  them  all.  This  they 
would  certainly  have  done  if  it  were  not  for  their 
enemies  ;  but  the  birds  delight  in  them  as  dainty 
morsels,  beetles  and  earwigs  devour  them,  and  flies 
lay  eggs  in  their  bodies,  while  the  lady-bird  eats  no 
other  food  ;  and  the  blind  grub  of  a  fly  (Musca 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  205 

aphidivord]  glides  about  on  the  stems  (see  g,  Fig.  69), 
seizing  the  aphides  in  his  mouth,  sucking  out  their 
juicy  bodies,  and  dropping  the  empty  skins  by 
hundreds. 

And  now  if  once  your  eyes  are  open  to  see  these 
tiny  juice-suckers,  you  may  find  numbers  of  different 
kinds  living  their  little  lives  in  the  fresh  country  air. 
Have  you  never  picked  up  an  apple-leaf  or  elm- 
leaf  covered  with  something  looking  like  tufts  of 
white  cotton,  so  sticky  that  you  cannot  clear  your 
fingers  of  it  ?  If  so,  look  carefully  at  it  next  time 
you  find  it,  and  under  each  white  tuft  you  will  see 
an  insect  struggling  along  which  is  like  a  rose-aphis, 
only  without  the  little  tubes  on  its  back.  In  fact 
this  fluffy  stuff  is  a  kind  of  wax  which  oozes  out 
with  the  sweet  liquid  all  over  the  body  of  the  insect, 
protecting  it  from  the  sun  and  from  enemies  as  it 
feeds,  and  making  it  look  like  a  lady  in  a  feathery 
white  ball  dress.  Some  species'"  of  these  fluff-covered 
aphides  fasten  on  to  the  stems  of  apple-trees,  and 
have  been  known  entirely  to  destroy  them.  Then, 
again,  there  are  others  which  eat  their  way  into  the 
leaves  of  trees,  making  rosy  bladders  upon  them, 
while  others  attack  the  wheat  or  the  hops.  In  mild 
seasons,  when  these  insects  increase  rapidly,  they  have 
been  known  to  destroy  a  whole  hop-harvest. 

Nor  are  the  aphides  the  only  plant-suckers.  Look 
at  the  bushes  in  summer  and  you  cannot  fail  to  see 
little  clusters  of  froth  here  and  there  (Fig.  70),  known 
as  cuckoo-spit,  because  they  first  appear  at  the  time 
when  the  cuckoo  sings.  Move  this  froth  carefully, 
and  in  the  middle  of  it  you  will  find  the  cuckoo-spit 

*  Myzoxyle  mali  and  Eriosoma  lanigerum. 


206 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


grub  (c)  which  has  given  out  this  froth  in  bubbles 
from  its  tail,  to  shelter  it  from  the  burning  sun  and 
hide  it  from  the  birds  as  it  sits  and  sucks  the  sap. 
But  in  the  autumn  the  "spit"  if  not  dried  up  will  be 
empty,  for  the  insect  after  losing  its  last  covering-skin 

Fig.  70. 


C,  Cuckoo-spit  insect*  coming  out  of  the  froth.  F,  The  same  insect 
when  its  wings  are  grown,  and  it  is  known  as  the  Frog-hopper. 
P,  Red  Cabbage-Bug,  t 

has  come  out  with  wings — a  little  brown  frog-hopper 
(F,  Fig.  70)  which  pats  down  upon  your  hand,  and  is 
gone  again  in  a  moment  before  you  have  time  to 
examine  the  wonderful  beauty  of  its  wings.  Then, 
again,  there  are  the  numberless  little  scaly  plant-lice 
which  spend  their  lives  flattened  against  the  stalks 


Aphrophora  spitmariq. 


t  Pentato/uii  ornata. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  207 

and  branches  of  shrubs,  looking  like  little  lumps  upon 
the  stem,  so  that  while  the  cuckoo-spit  is  protected 
by  its  froth  the  scaly  plant-lice  often  escape  by  their 
likeness  to  the  colour  of  the  shrub  on  which  they  are. 
It  is  to  these  animals  that  the  beautiful  cochineal 
insect  of  Mexico  belongs,  and  also  the  lac  insect  of 
India,  which  gives  out  the  red  lac  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  sealing-wax. 

Al!  these  are  plant -suckers,  and  rarely  move 
any  distance  from  their  home  ;  but  there  is  another 
group  which  has  learnt  to  run  actively  in  search 
of  food,  of  which  some  suck  the  juice  of  plants, 
while  others  have  made  use  of  their  sharp  lancet 
mouths  to  steal  the  blood  of  animals.  These  active 
suckers  are  the  air-bugs  and  water-bugs;  and  though 
we  dislike  the  name  because  one  ugly  wingless 
species  haunts  our  own  rooms  when  we  do  not  keep 
them  clean,  yet  many  are  very  beautiful  creatures. 
Look  among  the  cabbages  in  the  garden,  and  you 
will  scarcely  fail  to  find  a  pretty  little  red  and  black 
bug  (P,  Fig.  70)  running  over  them,  and  piercing  the 
leaves  for  their  juice  ;  while  a  grey  one  with  black, 
red,  and  yellow  spots,  is  busy  at  work  on  the  rasp- 
berry fruit.  If  you  touch  or  frighten  these  plant- 
suckers,  the  disagreeable  smell  which  they  will  give 
out  from  their  bodies  will  suggest  to  you  at  once 
that  they  belong  to  the  bug  family. 

Then  there  are  those  curious  thin-bodied  insects 
which  skim  over  the  ponds  in  the  summer,  actually 
running  on  the  top  of  the  water,  for  which  reason 
they  are  called  "  water- measurers"  (m,  Fig.  71), 
because  their  legs  when  stretched  out  seem  to  mea- 
sure off  the  water  as  they  go  along.  These  ghost- 


208 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


like  looking  insects  are  water-bugs,  whose  mouths  are 
made  for  sucking  like  the  land-bugs,  and  woe  betide 
the  little  water-flies  which  come  in  their  way.  Pro- 
tected themselves  from  the  water  by  a  thick  coating 
of  plush  under  their  bodies,  they  glide  along  silently 
and  rapidly,  and  seizing  their  prey  hold  it  in  their 


Fig.  71. 


Water-Bugs. 
M,  The  Water-Measurer.*     B,  The  Water-Boatman,  f 

fore-legs  while  they  suck  out  the  juices.  Thus  these 
active  little  creatures  have  learnt  to  find  food  on 
the  water  which  their  land  relations  cannot  reach, 
.while  a  still  bolder  race,  the  water-boatmen  (B, 
Fig.  71),  which  lay  their  eggs  on  the  leaves  of  the 
water-plants,  dive  into  the  water  carrying  their  air 
with  them,  and  feed  upon  the  tadpoles  and  water- 
grubs  below. 


*  Gerris. 


•j-  ATol(mecta  glauca. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  209 

In  any  pond  in  the  summer  time  you  may  see 
these  agile  insects  rowing  themselves  along,  under-side 
uppermost,  by  their  two  long  hind  legs,  and  poking 
their  tails  out  of  the  water  to  take  in  air  under  their 
wings.  Then  as  they  row  themselves  down  again  you 
can  see  bubble  after  bubble  escaping  from  the  tail  till 
they  come  up  for  more.  You  might  think  they  were 
water-beetles,  but  their  strong  wings  which  they  use 
to  leave  their  ponds  by  night  are  all  four  made  use 
of  in  flying,  whereas  in  beetles  the  two  front  wings  are 
only  stiff  covers  to  preserve  the  delicate  ones  under- 
neath. Moreover,  these  bugs  have  the  same  lancet 
mouths  as  the  plant-lice,  with  which  they  pierce  the 
skins  of  the  tadpoles,  soft  grubs,  and  other  water 
animals  near  the  bottom  of  the  pond  and  suck  out 
their  bodies,  leaving  nothing  but  the  empty  film-like 
skins.  They  are  most  voracious  animals  and  will 
attack  even  small  fish.  Their  habit  of  moving  up- 
side down  is  of  great  use  to  them  in  feeding,  for 
many  of  their  victims  have  hard  backs,  so  the  water- 
boatmen  dive  down  and  come  up  under  their  prey, 
thus  attacking  them  on  their  soft  side. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  sucking  lice  and  bugs  with 
their  beak-like  mouths  have  bored  their  way  into  all 
kinds  of  living  food  ;  into  plants,  shrubs,  and  trees  in 
all  countries,  and  into  the  flesh  of  men  and  animals 
both  on  the  land  and  in  the  water,  for  many  of 
the  lice  on  birds  and  other  creatures  belong  to  this 
class* 

And  yet  in  spite  of  their  numbers  they  are  not 
nearly  so  destructive  as  the  next  class  of  insects  we 

*  Called  Hemiptera,  or  half-winged  (hemi,  half;  ptcron,  wing). 


eio  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

must  speak  of — namely,  the  straight-winged  insects,* 
the  grasshoppers,  crickets,  locusts,  and  cockroaches, 
which  are  not  content  with  sucking,  but  tear  and 
devour  the  grass  and  leaves  with  their  strong  jaws. 
These  greedy  devourers  are  a  very  ancient  race  of 
land-insects,  and  in  fact  if  we  attached  importance 
to  pedigrees  they  should  have  come  first  in  order  ; 
for  at  the  time  when  the  piece  of  coal  you  put  on 
your  fire  to-day,  and  which  has  been  lying  for  untold 
ages  in  the  earth,  was  part  of  a  living  forest,  grass- 
hoppers, crickets,  and  cockroaches  were  already  creep- 
ing, leaping,  and  chirping  in  the  dense  jungle  of  ferns 
and  reeds,  where  they  left  the  remains  of  their  bodies 
among  the  decaying  plants,  so  that  we  find  traces  of 
them  now  in  our  coal-mines.  From  that  time  till 
now  they  have  struggled  on,  and  while  the  crickets 
have  learnt  to  burrow  long  tunnels  underground  to 
hide  themselves  in,  and  have  homes  in  the  cracks  of 
walls  and  in  company  with  the  cockroaches  in  the 
nooks  by  our  firesides,  the  locusts  and  the  grass- 
hoppers have  contented  themselves  with  the  open 
fields  and  protection  of  the  trees. 

When  all  the  birds  are  faint  with  the  hot  sun, 

And  hide  in  cooling  trees,  a  voice  will  run 

From  hedge  to  hedge  about  the  new-mown  mead — 

That  is  the  grasshopper's  :  he  takes  the  lead 

In  summer  luxury — he  has  never  done 

With  his  delight,  for  when  tired  out  with  fun 

He  rests  at  ease  beneath  some  pleasant  weed. 

Let  us  look  closely  at  him  (Fig.  72),  for  he  is  so 
large  that  he  will  help  us  to  understand  the  general 
structure  of  a  six-legged  insect  better  than  we  could 
have  seen  it  in  the  tiny  bugs. 

*  Orthoptera  (ortJios,  straight ;  pteron,  wing). 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  211 

We  see  at  once  under  his  wings  that  he  has  a 
ringed  body  like  the  prawn,  but  his  head  is  separate 
from  his  shoulders,  and  carries  only  one  pair  of 
antennae,  while  the  prawn  has  two.  His  mouth,  with 
its  two  little  palpi  sticking  out,  is  strong  and  power- 
ful, and  is  made  of  six  parts — an  upper  and  lower 
lip,  with  a  pair  of  biting  jaws  within  them  which 


Fig.  72. 


Large  Green  Grasshopper.* 

g,  Very  young  grasshopper ;  g ',  the  same  older  straggling  out  of  its 
skin.  G,  Full-grown  female  grasshopper  laying  her  eggs  in  the  earth. 
o,  Her  ovipositor  or  egg  -  laying  sheath ;  s,  one  of  the  spiracles  or 
breathing-holes. 

move  to  and  fro  sideways  to  hold  and  cut  their  food, 
and  within  these  again  are  a  pair  of  chewing  jaws  to 
masticate  it.  These  six  parts,  however  much  they 
may  be  altered,  we  shall  find  in  all  six-legged  insects, 
and  whether  for  piercing,  sucking,  or  gnawing  they 
are  powerful  implements. 

*  Cryliits  viriJissimia* 


212  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

Next  behind  the  head  of  the  grasshopper  cones 
his  chest  or  thorax,  formed  of  three  rings,  each  of 
which  bears  a  pair  of  legs,  and  the  two  hinder  ones 
two  pairs  of  wings,  while  the  shoulders  are  covered  by 
a  shield.  Behind  this  again  comes  the  ringed  abdomen 
which  he  can  curve  and  bend  at  will.  Now,  on  looking 
carefully  along  the  sides  of  these  rings  you  will  see  a 
dark  spot  (s)  on  each,  and  a  magnifying  glass  will 
show  that  this  spot  is  a  round  plate  with  a  slit  in  the 

middle  (s,  Fig. 
73).  These  are 
the  breathing - 
holes  or  spiracles 
of  the  grasshop- 
per, and  if  you 

S,  Spiracle  or  breathing-plate  (s,  Fig.  72),  were  to  Cut  his 

with  the  slit  in  the  centre  which  opens  to  take  body  Open  under 
in  air. 

T,  Part  of  the  breathing-tubes  or  trachea,  water  you  would 

showing  the  spiral  thread  which  keeps  the  see  hundreds  of 

tubes  in  their  round  shape.  minute  glistening 

tubes  called  trachea  (T,  Fig.  73),  running  in  all 
directions  and  ending  in  larger  tubes,  each  of  which 
is  joined  to  one  of  these  breathing -holes.  These 
tubes  are  formed  of  two  layers,  between  which  is 
wound  round  and  round  a  stiff  wiry  thread  (see  Fig. 
73),  which  keeps  the  tube  in  shape,  just  like  the  spiral 
wire  which  they  put  into  india-rubber  tubing.  The 
glistening  is  caused  by  the  air  which  has  been  taken 
in  at  the  breathing  holes,  and  fills  all  the  tubes. 

If  instead  of  cutting  open  the  grasshopper  you 
keep  him  alive  under  a  glass,  you  may  watch  his 
abdomen  moving  up  and  down  and  pumping  the  air 
in  at  the  slits,  and  that  air  will  pass  all  through  his 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  213 

body  along  these  infinitely  fine  branching  canals. 
Here  we  have  the  secret  why  insects  leap,  and 
fly,  and  run  so  easily.  Think  how  beautifully  light 
a  body  must  be  which  instead  of  containing  solid 
flesh  is  full  of  channels  of  air.  Lyonnet  counted 
1572  tubes  in  a  caterpillar's  body,  and  even  then 
left  many  smaller  ones  unnoticed  ;  while  some 
insects,  such  as  the  bee  and  the  grasshopper,  have 
not  only  air-tubes  but  actual  bladders  of  air  filling 
large  spaces  in  the  body.  Nor  is  it  only  lightness 
which  insects  gain  by  this  network  of  air -tubes, 
for  their  blood  being  bathed  in  air  is  always  full  of 
oxygen,  and  therefore  active  and  vigorous,  supplying 
their  nerves  and  muscles  with  strength  quite  beyond 
what  we  should  expect  for  their  size,  and  helping  us 
to  understand  why  they  have  been  so  successful  in 
the  battle  of  life. 

So  the  grasshopper  with  his  large  fixed  eyes  with 
many  hundred  windows  in  them  (for  structure  see  p. 
224),  his  delicate  feelers,  his  strong  jaws,  his  long 
muscular  hind  legs,  and  his  light  body,  is  an  active, 
powerful  insect,  and  an  especially  greedy  feeder. 
Indeed  he  has  between  his  throat  and  his  stomach 
an  apparatus  called  a  gizzard,  with  more  than  200 
teeth  in  it,  for  grinding  the  food  which  he  has  stripped 
off  the  bushes  and  meadows  with  his  cutting  jaws. 
Even  our  little  grasshoppers  in  the  meadows  and  the 
large  green  grasshopper  living  in  the  trees  devour 
greedily  all  that  comes  in  their  way,  but  their  ravages 
are  as  nothing  compared  with  those  of  the  large 
migratory  locusts  with  short  antennae,  which  multiply 
at  an  incredible  rate  in  favourable  seasons,  and  move 
in  swarms  over  the  south  of  Europe,  darkening  the 


214  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

sky  for  miles  and  devouring  every  green  thing  upon 
their  road — 

Onward  they  come,  a  dark  continuous  cloud 
Of  congregated  myriads,  numberless. 
The  rushing  of  whose  wings  is  as  the  sound 
Of  a  broad  river  headlong  in  its  course, 
Plunged  from  a  mountain  summit,  or  the  roar 
Of  a  wild  ocean  in  the  autumn  storm, 
Shattering  its  billows  on  a  shore  of  rocks ; 

and  as  they  move  they  leave  desolation  behind  them. 
Every  leaf  on  tree  and  bush,  every  blade  of  grass, 
every  ear  of  corn,  vanishes  under  their  attacks.  In 
I  866  in  Algeria  they  not  only  destroyed  the  vege- 
tables, fig-trees,  vines,  and  olives,  but  fell  into  the 
canals  and  brooks  in  such  numbers,  that  the  stench 
became  horrible,  and  the  French  troops  were  called 
out  to  destroy  them  and  collect  their  bodies  in  heaps 
to  burn  them  ;  and  similar  locust  plagues  cause  great 
devastation  in  America. 

These  locusts  put  their  eggs  into  the  earth  and 
cover  them  up,  and  the  young  locusts  come  out  ready 
at  once  to  begin  eating,  and  exactly  like  the  mother 
only  without  wings,  which  appear  later  when  the  last 
loose  skin  is  cast  off.  Our  little  green  grasshoppers 
are  locusts  with  short  antennae,  and  drop  their  eggs 
in  this  way,  but  crickets  and  true  grasshoppers,  of 
which  our  large  green  grasshopper  (Fig.  72)  is  one, 
have  a  very  curious  and  interesting  implement  for 
laying  their  eggs  in  the  earth  safe  from  harm.  The 
mother  has  a  pointed  egg-laying  sheath  or  ovipositor 
(o,  Fig.  72),  at  the  end  of  her  body,  made  of  several 
thin  plates  touching  at  the  edges,  and  with  this  she 
bores  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and  then  opening  the 
sheath  drops  egg  after  Ggg  in  to  lie  till  next  spring, 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  215 

when  they  are  hatched,  if  they  escape  being  devoured 
by  underground  creatures.  Then  as  each  mother  has 
perhaps  laid  between  two  or  three  hundred  eggs,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  ground  and  bushes  are 
covered  with  tiny  grasshoppers  leaping  and  feeding, 
but  without  wings.  At  this  time  they  will  all  be 
silent,  and  as  they  go  on  growing  will  cast  skin 
after  skin,  till,  when  the  sixth  skin  is  being  thrown 
off  (gt  Fig.  72),  their  wings  appear;  and  then  the 
young  male  grasshoppers  begin  to  rub  their  front 
leathery  wings  sharply  against  each  other,  so  that 
from  their  base,  where  they  have  a  talc -like  plate 
with  strong  ridges  upon  it,  that  shrill  cry  arises  by 
which  they  call  to  their  friends. 

The  crickets,  on  the  other  hand,  will  not  be  seen 
in  the  daytime,  for  they  hide  in  holes  in  the  ground 
till  night  falls,  and  then  come  out  for  food  and 
enjoyment.  The  only  way  to  entice  one  out  by  day 
is  to  tickle  the  hole  with  a  straw,  when  they  will 
seize  it,  and  so  can  be  pulled  out. 

In  the  same  way  the  house  cricket  hides  in  its 
hole  behind  the  oven,  where  it  first  came  from  the 
egg,  and  only  ventures  out  to  leap  and  fly  about  the 
kitchen  at  night,  when  it  steals  the  bread-crumbs  and 
flour,  and  sips  the  milk  and  beer.  Often  it  will  begin 
its  chirp  long  before  it  comes  out,  and 

"  On  a  lone  winter's  evening,  when  the  frost 
Has  wrought  a  silence,  from  the  stove  there  thrills 
The  cricket's  song,"     .     .     . 

for  the  warmth  keeps  him  awake  and  alive.  But  if 
you  leave  the  room  through  the  winter  without  fire, 
then  he  will  sleep  in  the  cracks  of  the  chimney  till 
the  warm  weather  comes  back. 


216 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


All  these  are  leaping  "  straight-winged  "  insects, 
and,  like  the  plant-lice,  they  feed  on  vegetable  food. 
But  the  cockroach,  which  is  not  a  "  black  beetle,"  as 
people  call  it,  nor  a  beetle  at  all,*  but  one  of  the 


Cockroaches. 

/,  Female  with  aborted  wings  carrying  her  case  of  eggs,  c  ; 
m,  male  with  wings  flying ;  y,  young  cockroach. 

straight-winged  insects,  has  its  legs  formed  for  run- 
ning instead  of  leaping,  and  eats  all  kinds  of  food, 

*  I  would  beg  every  reader  of  this  book  to  begin  to  try  always  to 
give  the  cockroach  its  true  name,  for  though  the  false  name  may  be 
long  in  disappearing,  the  confusion  might  be  gradually  got  rid  of  if 
every  child  used  the  right  word. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  217 

whether  animal  or  vegetable,  not  even  sparing  our 
dish-cloths,  if  they  have  any  grease  upon  them. 
Though  we  have  most  of  us  had  cockroaches  at  one 
time  or  another  in  our  houses,  few  people  know  any- 
thing of  their  history  ;  of  the  fact  that  the  mother 
has  only  imperfect  wings,  while  the  father  can  fly 
about ;  or  that  when  a  cockroach  changes  its  skin  it 
comes  out  white  and  soft,  and  is  some  time  before  it 
regains  its  dark  reddish -brown  colour.  Nor  is  it 
likely  that  many  people  will  have  found  the  curious 
little  horny  cases  of  eggs  (c,  Fig.  74),  shaped  some- 
thing like  a  bean,  and  divided  inside  into  separate 
compartments,  which  the  mother  carries  about  with 
her,  half  out  of  her  body,  till  the  eggs  are  nearly 
hatched,  when  she  hides  it  in  the  cracks  of  the  boards 
and  mortar  of  the  ovens.  These  cases  contain  about 
sixteen  eggs,  ranged  neatly  in  two  rows,  and  the 
edges  of  the  case  are  strongly  cemented  together. 
As  soon  as  the  eggs  are  hatched,  the  young 
cockroaches  give  out  a  fluid  which  loosens  the 
cement,  and  they  come  out  into  the  world  small, 
wriggling  creatures  (j,  Fig.  74),  with  all  the  rings 
of  their  body  conspicuous,  because  their  wings  are 
not  yet  grown. 

But  above  all,  few  people  probably  would  give 
cockroaches  credit  for  being  intelligent  animals,  and 
yet  an  escape  of  cockroaches  which  happened  in  the 
house  of  a  friend  of  mine  shows  them  to  be  more  clever 
than  is  generally  supposed.  The  house  being  infested 
with  these  anrmals,  the  cook  laid  a  trap  to  catch  them, 
made  of  a  box  with  two  strips  of  glass  sloping  in- 
wards from  the  sides,  and  it  happened  that  the  edges 
were  only  about  an  inch  from  the  bottom  of  the 


2i8  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

inside  of  the  box.  In  this  trap  she  caught  many 
cockroaches,  for  after  getting  in  they  could  not  mount 
on  the  glass  again  to  get  out  But  one  evening, 
having  noticed  that  the  trap  was  nearly  full  before 
she  went  to  bed,  she  was  surprised  in  the  morning  to 
find  that  all  the  bait  was  eaten,  and  every  single 
insect  had  escaped.  This  happened  several  nights, 
and  at  last  she  resolved  to  watch.  On  doing  so  she 
saw  one  of  the  larger  cockroaches  stand  upon  his 
tail,  and  so  reach  up  with  his  front  feet  to  the  edge 
of  the  glass,  and  then  all  the  other  cockroaches  ran 
up  his  back  out  of  the  box,  he  dragging  himself  up 
last  and  escaping  with  the  rest.  In  the  open  country 
cockroaches  have  many  enemies  which  keep  them  in 
check  ;  birds  and  hedgehogs  devour  them,  and  bees, 
ants,  and  wasps,  especially  the  sand-wasps,  hunt  them 
down  ;  but  in  our  houses  nothing  but  cleanliness  and 
killing  every  one  we  meet  with  can  rid  us  of  this 
terrible  pest. 

And  now  we  must  pass  over  the  other  straight- 
winged  insects  :  the  Earwig,  which  uses  its  pincers  to 
fold  its  wings  neatly  under  its  wing  cases  and  watches 
over  its  eggs  with  a  mother's  care ;  the  Mantis  or 
snatching  insect,  which  in  warm  countries  creeps  along 
the  branches  of  trees,  with  its  forelegs  up  as  if  pray- 
ing, but  really  in  readiness  to  snatch  any  passing  fly 
or  insect;  and  the  Leaf  and  Stick  insects,  which  feed 
on  green  leaves,  and  are  protected  from  the  birds  by 
looking  so  exactly  like  the  leaves  and  stems  of  the 
trees  they  crawl  upon,  that  you  may  touch  them 
without  dreaming  that  they  are  living  animals.  All 
these  are  wonderful  examples  of  the  tricks  which  life 
has  taught  to  her  children  for  protection  and  attack, 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  219 

but,  with  the  exception  of  the  earwig,  the  creatures 
employing  them  belong  to  other  countries  than  ours, 
and  we  cannot  dwell  upon  them,  for  we  must  turn  to 
another  group,  the  "  nerve-winged  insects,""5'"  which  we 
meet  with  every  day,  and  whose  history  is  perhaps  one 
of  the  strangest  among  insects. 

In  the  time  of  those  ancient  coal-forests  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  when  the  grasshoppers  and  cockroaches 
lived  upon  the  land,  another  race  of  insects,  belonging 
half  to  the  water  and  half  to  the  air,  were  spending 
their  youth  in  the  ponds  and  marshes,  and  hovering 
over  them  in  their  riper  age.  These  were  the  ances- 
tors of  our  May-flies  and  dragon-flies,  and  from  that 
day  to  this  they  have  kept  up  this  strange  existence, 
hunting  and  chasing  their  prey  at  the  bottom  of 
ponds  until  the  time  comes  for  their  wings  to  grow, 
and  then  climbing  up  the  water-plants,  and  bursting 
forth  into  glorious  winged  animals,  which 

"  To  the  sun  their  insect  wings  unfold, 
Waft  on  the  breeze,  or  sink  in  clouds  of  gold  ; 
Transparent  forms  too  fine  for  mortal  sight, 
Their  fluid  bodies  half  dissolved  in  light." 

Every  one  who  has  been  on  a  warm  summer's  day 
near  the  borders  of  a  lake  or  pond,  must  have  seen 
those  delicate  and  fragile  flies  called  May-flies  (mf, 
Fig.  75),  which  dance  in  the  sunshine,  flag  as  the  sun 
goes  down,  and  die  in  the  night.  They  are  not  difficult 
to  know  with  their  widespread  unequal  wings,  their 
short  delicate  antennae,  and  their  bodies  ending  in 
three  long  fine  bristles;  and  they  do  nothing  but  rise 

*  Called  Neuroptera  or   "  Nerve- winged,"  on  account  of  the  net- 
work of  veins  in  the  wings. 


220  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  fall  in  and  out  in  a  mazy  dance  ;  for  they  have 
but  a  few  hours  to  live,  and  their  mouths  are  too  soft 
for  them  to  take  food.  In  fact,  the  whole  end  and 
aim  of  their  winged  life  is  to  form  and  lay  eggs  in 

Fig-  75- 


May-fly  *  and  Caddis-fly,  t     Life  size. 

mg,  May-grub,  with  its  fringe  of  breathing  gills  ;  mf,  May-fly  ; 
eg,  caddis-grub  in  its  case  ;  cf,  caddis-fly. 

little  packets  on  the  water  to  hatch  into  future  young 
ones.  And  yet  they  are  not  really  mere  "  creatures 
of  a  day  "  as  they  have  been  called,  for  before  they 

*  Ephemera.  t  Phryganea. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  221 

obtained  their  wings  they  lived  for  nearly  two  years 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pond  over  which  they  now  fly. 

Their  real  life  is  that  of  a  water-insect  (ing),  which 
as  soon  as  the  eggs  are  hatched,  dives  to  the  bottom 
of  the  pond  and  burrows  in  the  ground  or  under 
stones,  and  feeds  upon  all  passing  insects,  seizing 
them  with  strong  spiny  jaws,  and  devouring  them 
greedily.  At  this  time  the  May  grub  does  not 
breathe  through  holes  in  the  side,  but  has  its  body 
fringed  with  gills  or  delicate  folds  of  skin  which  take 
in  air  out  of  the  water,  and  there  is  nothing  in  its 
appearance  to  lead  any  one  to  believe  that  it  could 
ever  live  in  the  air.  But  as  it  grows  up  and  loses  one 
loose  skin  after  another,  the  rudiments  of  wings  are 
seen  through  the  transparent  covering,  and  then  the 
end  of  its  life  is  beginning.  It  creeps  out  upon  some 
plant  or  stone  overhanging  the  water,  the  skin  cracks 
down  the  back,  and  the  flying  insect  comes  out  with 
its  wings  perfectly  visible.  Still  it  cannot  use  them, 
for  a  fine  film  covers  the  whole  body,  and  it  is  only 
a  few  hours  after,  when  this  has  dried  and  split,  that 
the  perfect  May-fly  soars  away  an  air-breathing  insect, 
to  lay  its  eggs  and  die. 

We  need  not  then  pity  these  frail,  delicate  eph- 
emera on  account  of  their  short  life,  for  they  have 
had  a  long  and  merry  one  feeding  in  the  pond  below, 
and  when  we  see  them,  they  are  taking  their  last 
enjoyment  before  night  falls. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  caddis-flies  or  water- 
moths  (cf,  Fig.  75),  which  anglers  use  as  bait,  for 
they  too  cannot  feed  after  they  get  their  wings  ;  but 
their  life  in  the  pool  below  has  been  rather  different. 
Their  tail  is  soft  like  that  of  the  hermit-crab,  and  they 


222  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

need  to  liide  it  in  some  strong  covering.  And  for 
this  purpose  they  build  themselves  tubes  of  silk,  into 
which  they  weave  pieces  of  wood  and  grass,  or  of 
sand  and  stone,  and  even  sometimes  shells  with  living 
creatures  in  them ;  and  dragging  these  tubes  about  v/ith 
them,  they  put  out  their  strong  head  and  shoulders, 
and  feed  on  plants  and  insects.  Then  when  the  time 
comes  for  their  change  they  draw  back  into  their  case, 
and  closing  it  with  a  grating  of  silk  at  each  end,  so 
that  water  can  get  in  while  enemies  are  shut  out, 
they  lie  still  for  a  fortnight,  like  a  caterpillar  in  its 
chrysalis,  and  then  swim  out  and  creeping  up  some 
plant  burst  their  covering  skin,  and  hover  over  the 
pond,  or  rest  upon  the  bushes  till  their  eggs  are  laid, 
and  they  die. 

Thus,  the  May-fly  and  Caddis-fly  live  chiefly  in 
the  water,  finding  plenty  of  food  during  all  their 
growing  time,  while  they  have  but  a  short  glimpse 
of  the  pleasures  of  the  air.  Not  so,  however,  the 
gorgeous-winged  Dragon-fly.  He  manages  to  make 
the  most  of  both  worlds,  and,  whether  he  is  crawling 
in  the  water  below,  or  flying  in  the  air  above,  is  one 
of  the  most  voracious  and  bloodthirsty  of  insects. 

Even  when  he  is  a  water-grub,  though  he  moves 
very  slowly,  yet  the  quickest  of  insects  cannot  escape 
from  him,  for  he  has  a  peculiar  under  lip  (in,  Fig.  76), 
very  long  and  with  two  sharp  hooks  at  its  broad 
end,  with  which  he  seizes  them.  This  lip  folds  back 
by  a  kind  of  hinge,  and  is  called  a  mask,  because 
it  covers  the  lower  part  of  his  face,  and  makes 
him  look  an  innocent  and  harmless  creature.  The 
moment  an  insect  comes  by,  the  lip  is  shot  out,  and 
the  pincers  grasp  the  prey,  throwing  it  into  his  mouth 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS. 


223 


as  the  mask  again  closes.  So  gliding  stealthily 
along  the  bottom,  the  greedy  creature  seizes  all  that 
comes  in  his  way — grubs,  worms,  water-slugs,  and 
even  small  fish,  are  all  attacked  by  him ;  and  though  he 

Fig.  76. 


Life  of  the  Dragon-fly,*  about  half  life-size. 

a,  Giub  living  in  the  water  ;  m,  mask  or  long  lower  lip  with  which 
it  seizes  its  prey ;  b,  dragon-fly  creeping  out  of  its  last  grub  skin  ;  (, 
perfect  dragon-fly  on  the  wing. 

is  sometimes  devoured  in  his  turn  by  other  animals, 
yet  he  often  escapes,  for  he  breathes  by  taking  in 
water  at  his  tail,  and  when  he  wishes  to  get  out  of 

*  Libellula. 


224  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

the  way,  he  shoots  this  water  out,  and  drives  himself 
along  much  as  we  saw  the  octopus  do,  only  that  the 
dragon-fly  grub  goes  forwards  instead  of  backwards. 
So  in  a  year  he  grows  big  and  strong,  and  short 
wings  begin  to  appear  under  his  skin.  Then  he 
crawls  listlessly  to  the  top  of  a  plant,  and  there 
dragging  himself  out  of  his  covering,  he  gradu- 
ally expands  his  large  gauze  wings  filled  with 
delicate  air  channels,  and  shaking  free  his  sharp- 
clawed  feet,  is  at  once  ready  for  new  victims.  His 
large  gleaming  eyes  with  their  thousands  of  windows 
(often  12,000,  each  with  its 
own  iens  and  cone  and  rod, 
see  Fig.  77)  espy  a  butterfly 
or  a  moth,  and  in  an  instant 
he  is  pursuing  it,  flying 
upwards,  downwards,  and 
sideways,  without  turning, 
by  means  of  the  peculiar 
muscles  by  which  his  wings 
work  upon  his  bulky  shoul- 
Section  of  an  Insect's  Eye.  ders,  while  his  long  body 

a,  Nerve-mass  of  the  eye  ;  b,  serves  as  a  rudder.  And 
nerves  springing  from  it ;  c  when  he  hag  caught  his  prey, 
the  retina  ;  d,  thread-like  rods  r  J 

by  which  the  picture  is  formed ;  he    tears    it    savagely  with 

e,  glass-like  cones  ; //,  lens-like  njs  horny  jaws,  scattering 
facets,  of  which  each  eye  may  .  ,  .  . 

have  from  10,000  to  20,000.       lts    shattered    wings    upon 
the  ground.     Much   as  we 

admire  the  beautiful  colours  and  magnificent  wings  of 
the  dragon-fly,  we  must  admit  that  when  he  reckons 
back  his  ancestors  through  the  dim  ages  to  those 
distant  coal-forests,  he  must  look  along  a  line  of  the 
most  greedy  and  cruel  marauders  of  the  insect  world. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  225 

Nor  has  he  been  content  with  ravaging  the 
water  and  the  air  only,  for  one  of  his  very  near 
relations,  the  ant-lion  (JVfyrmeleon  formicarius)  — 
which  is  to  be  found  in  France  and  most  warm  coun- 
tries, and  which  when  it  has  its  wings  might  be 
mistaken  for  a  dragon-fly — lives  its  early  life  in  dry 
sand,  in  which  it  twists  round  and  round,  till  it  has 
made  a  funnel-shaped  hole  at  the  bottom  of  which 
it  lies  (see  plate,  p.  135).  This  it  does  near  an  ants' 
nest,  and  when  an  ant  running  on  the  edge  of  the 
funnel  slips  in,  the  ant-lion  flings  sand  upon  it  so 
that  it  tumbles  to  the  bottom,  and  he  can  devour  it. 
Thus  in  the  water,  on  the  land,  and  in  the  air,  the 
dragon-flies  have  a  good  time  of  it,  if  they  can  only 
escape  the  swallows  and  other  quick -flying  birds, 
which  pounce  down  upon  them,  and  the  scorpion- 
flies,  which,  though  much  smaller  than  themselves, 
sting  them  to  death. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  most  interesting  of 
all  the  nerve-winged  animals,  the  Termites  or  white- 
ants,  the  plagues  of  India  and  Africa.  Every  one 
has  heard  of  these  destructive  creatures,  which  feed 
so  cunningly  out  of  sight,  eating  their  way  from  the 
ground  beneath,  up  the  middle  of  posts,  beams, 
woodwork,  and  furniture  ;  and  even  sometimes  prop- 
ping up  with  hardened  mud  and  slime  the  build- 
ings they  are  eating  away,  so  that  no  one  finds 
them  out  till  all  at  once  some  part  falls  down  and 
exposes  the  rottenness  within.  They  are  so  clever, 
and  have  so  many  habits  like  true  ants  that  they 
have  been  called  by  their  name,  and  most  people 
think  that  they  are  their  near  relations.  But  this  is 
not  so  ;  on  the  contrary,  while  the  ants  stand  at  the 


226 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


head  of  the  most  highly  developed  insects,  and  have 
a  helpless  infancy,  and  a  true  chrysalis  state  before 
they  are  fit  for  work,  the  termites  have  come  along 
quite  a  different  line,  and  belong  to  those  ancient 


Fig.  78. 


African  Termites  *  taken  out  of  their  home. 
Winged  king  ;  /£',  same  after  losing  his  wings  ;  <f, 
•w,  worker  ;  s,  soldier.     All  natural  size. 


queen  ; 


nerve-winged  insects,  which  work  from  their  earliest 
age,  and  have  no  time  of  rest  to  prepare  for  their 
grown-up  life.  So  when  we  find  these  "white- 
ants  "  living  together,  and  building  houses,  and  having 
workmen  and  soldiers  besides  the  true  king  and 

*    Termes  bdlicosus. 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  227 

queen  of  the  nation,  we  see  that  they  must  have 
learned  these  habits  quite  independently  of  the  true 
ants,  with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do. 

A  strange  and  wonderful  thing  a  termite  com- 
munity is.  Perhaps  in  India  you  find  one  day  that 
the  sill  of  your  window  or  the  post  of  your  door 
is  rotten,  and  then  when  you  begin  to  cut  it  you 
find  it  completely  hollowed  out  into  little  cham- 
bers, the  wood  being  eaten  away.  At  first  these 
chambers  are  empty,  but  as  you  go  on,  you  find 
small  soft  white  insects  with  six  feet  running  hither 
and  thither.  These  insects  are  quite  blind  and 
wingless,  and  always  work  in  the  dark.  Even  if 
they  come  out  on  the  surface  of  the  wall  or  the 
ground,  they  cement  wood-dust  together,  or  carry  up 
clay  to  make  a  tunnel,  under  cover  of  which  they 
travel  up  and  down.  In  a  single  night  a  tube  may 
appear  all  up  your  wall,  which  is  a  termite  tunnel, 
built  to  enable  the  insects  to  reach  some  fresh  store 
of  woodwork.  If  you  watch  you  may  see  the  tunnel 
grow  at  its  open  end,  as  one  little  white  grub  after 
another  comes  to  the  opening  and  laying  on  its  little 
bit  of  mudwork,  goes  back  to  make  room  for  the 
next.  Mingled  with  these  workers  are  much  larger 
insects,  also  blind  and  wingless,  with  huge  heads  and 
jaws  shaped  like  jagged  stilettoes.  These  are  the 
soldiers  ;  they  do  not  work  but  defend  the  labourers, 
hanging  on  to  any  enemy  with  their  sharp  pincers, 
and  allowing  themselves  to  be  torn  to  pieces  rather 
than  give  way. 

And  now  as  you  penetrate  farther  and  farther 
through  the  woodwork  and  probably  down  into  the 
ground  belcw,  the  small  chambers  begin  to  be  filled 
11 


223  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

with  little  white  eggs,  and  with  snow-white  young 
workers  and  soldiers,  which  feed  on  a  kind  of  mouldy 
fungus  growing  on  the  walls  of  their  rooms.  At  last 
in  the  midst  of  these  you  come  upon  a  large  cell  with 
a  long  soft  whitish-brown  lump  in  it  as  big  as  your 
finger,  and  looking  something  like  an  uncooked 
sausage  (Figs.  78  and  79).  At  first  you  would 
think  this  was  a  mere  bag,  but  looking  at  one  end 
you  would  see  three  rings,  each  with  a  pair  of  legs, 
and  a  head  (/if,  Fig.  79)-  with  eyes  and  feelers  and 

Fig.  79. 


Part  of  a  Queen  Termite  Cell  broken  open  to  show  the  Queen  within. 

SmeatAman, 

Jit,  Head  and  thorax,  a,  abdomen  of  the  queen  ;  o,  only  real 
openings  in  the  cell  when  it  is  perfect.  The  workers  pass  through 
these,  -w  w,  Workers. 

mouth.  This  white  lump,  then,  is  part  of  a  living 
creature  ;  it  is  the  abdomen  of  a  termite  queen 
swollen  to  nearly  2000  times  its  natural  size  and 
full  of  eggs.  There  she  lies  with  her  husband  (ky 
Fig.  78),  who  is  much  bigger  even  than  the  soldiers, 
but  nothing  as  compared  to  his  queen,  crouching  by 
her  side ;  and  while  the  working  termites  feed  her  and 
caress  her,  she  goes  on  laying  eggs  incessantly,  about 
60  a  minute.  These  the  workers  carry  away  as  fast 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  279 

as  she  lays  them,  and  store  them  in  the  nursery- 
chambers  around  ;  but  the  holes  through  which  they 
pass  out  of  the  queen's  cell  (o,  Fig.  79)  are  far  too 
small  for  either  of  the  royal  pair  to  escape. 

The  history  of  this  curious  community  has  been 
as  follows  :  About  two  years  ago,  before  the  heavy 
autumn  rains  began,  this  king  and  queen,  with  thou- 
sands of  others,  were  born  from  the  eggs  of  another 
huge  queen,  and  when  they  had  cast  their  skin, 
they  came  out  each  with  four  gauzy  wings,  and  flew 
into  the  country,  or  often  into  the  houses  if  their 
nest  was  in  a  town.  But  their  bodies  were  heavy 
and  their  wings  weak,  and  so  they  soon  fell  to  the 
ground,  where  nearly  all  their  companions  were  eaten 
by  birds  and  ants  and  other  creatures.  They,  how- 
ever, chanced  to  escape,  and  losing  their  wings  were 
found  by  a  party  of  working  termites.  At  once  these 
active  wingless  workers  carried  the  royal  pair  into 
their  tunnel,  and  built  a  clay  chamber  round  them, 
with  only  small  openings  in  it  (Fig.  79),  not  large 
enough  for  them  to  get  out.  There  they  fed  them 
carefully,  and  by  and  by  the  abdomen  of  the  queen 
began  to  swell,  and  from  that  time  her  whole  mission 
was  to  lay  eggs.  As  her  size  increased,  the  workers 
enlarged  her  chamber,  and  meanwhile  were  toiling 
busily  making  nurseries  for  the  eggs,  and  storehouses 
for  the  shavings  of  wood  and  masses  of  vegetable 
gum,  which  they  collected  by  burrowing  in  every 
direction  through  living  trees,  or  beams,  or  wood- 
work of  any  kind. 

You  may  imagine  how  many  nurseries  must  be 
built,  besides  new  rooms  for  grown-up  workers,  if 
80,000  eggs  are  laid  every  -iay  ;  and  besides  these 


:3o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

nurseries  there  are  innumerable  galleries  and  passages, 
which  are  all  so  arranged  that  air  passes  through  the 
whole  building.  The  work  goes  on  in  perfect  order  ; 
some  tend  the  queen,  and  all  show  her  the '  utmost 
attention  and  affection  ;  some  store  the  eggs  ;  some 
look  after  the  young  ;  while  others  enlarge  the  build- 
ing or  tunnel  for  long  distances  underground  to  get 
food.  And  all  this  is  done  by  blind  workers  in  pitch 
darkness,  with  a  regularity  and  precision  which  is 
most  marvellous,  and  can  probably  only  be  accounted 
for  by  the  supposition  that  their  antennae  are  far  more 
delicate  and  useful  implements  than  we  can  as  yet 
understand. 

There  are  many  species  of  these  Termites.  Some 
live  in  buildings,  and  the  town  of  La  Rochelle  in 
France  where  they  have  probably  been  brought  from 
the  West  Indies,  has  been  sadly  damaged  by  them. 
Others  in  Africa  build  enormous  mounds  of  clay  and 
earth  (see  Fig.  78),  as  much  as  from  twelve  to  twenty 
feet  high,  and  so  strong  that  the  buffaloes  stand 
upon  them  to  look  over  the  plains  ;  and  inside  these 
are  innumerable  galleries  and  floors  of  storehouses 
and  nurseries.  If  an  attempt  is  made 'to  destroy 
these  mounds  the  soldier  termites,  which  are  about 
one  in  a  hundred  as  compared  to  the  workers,  swarm 
out  and  fall  upon  the  enemy,  while  the  workers  begin  at 
once  to  repair  the  damage.  Other  species  build  nests 
in  tall  trees,  driven  there,  no  doubt,  to  escape  from  the 
true  ants,  which,  having  hard  bodies,  can  attack  the 
soft  termites  and  destroy  them  easily.  Lastly,  there 
are  some  which  come  above  ground  and  march  from 
place  to  place  like  a  regular  army  ;  and  these  are  the 
most  remarkable,  for  not  only  have  the  soldiers  and 


INSECT  SUCKERS  AND  BITERS.  231 

workers  eyes  so  that  they  see  their  way,  but  Smeath- 
man,  who  studied  them  in  Africa,  saw  the  workers 
marching  in  regular  streams  or  columns  twelve  or 
fifteen  abreast,  guarded  by  the  soldiers,  while  sentinels 
were  placed  on  plants  along  the  road.  These 
soldiers  struck  the  leaves  every  now  and  then  with 
their  jaws,  making  a  ticking  noise,  to  which  the 
workers  answered  with  a  hiss  and  then  quickened 
their  pace. 

And  here  we  must  end  our  history.  There  is  pro- 
bably nothing  more  curious  in  the  whole  insect  world 
than  the  termite  communities  ;  for  these  children 
of  Life  have  learnt  lessons  far  above  any  of  their 
near  relations,  while  the  necessity  of  preparing  for 
and  tending  the  eggs  which  the  queens  lay  at  such  a 
prodigious  rate,  makes  the  whole  nest  a  constant 
scene  of  activity  and  contrivance.  The  study  of 
their  habits  and  customs  is  one  of  the  greatest 
possible  interest,  but  here  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  a  mere  general  glimpse,  and  with  establish 
ing  firmly  in  our  minds  the  fact  that  the  "white 
ants  "  of  India  and  Africa  are  quite  a  different  race, 
and  belo?ig  to  a  totally  different  order  of  insects, 
from  their  darker  namesakes  in  England.  They 
belong  to  the  nerve -winged  insects,  and  together 
with  all  those  included  in  this  chapter  they  are  born 
in  the  same  shape  as  their  parents,  only  without  wings. 

For  we  shall  notice  that  the  aphides  and  the 
bugs,  the  grasshoppers  and  cockroaches,  the  may- 
flies and  dragon -flies,  as  well  as  the  termites,  change 
their  coats  as  they  grow  too  small  for  them,  creeping 
out  of  their  skins  many  times  in  their  lives.  But 
they  do  not  change  their  bodies,  as  we  shall  see  in 


232  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

the  next  chapter  is  done  by  the  caterpillars  and 
butterflies.  Neither  have  they,  with  the  exception  of 
the  caddis-flies,  any  time  of  trance  as  the  caterpillar 
has  in  its  chrysalis.  They  are  active  from  birth  to 
death,  and  though,  when  their  time  for  laying  eggs 
comes,  they  put  forth  wings  to  carry  them  to  their 
mates  and  to  suitable  spots  for  laying,  still  they  have 
not  yet  fallen  upon  the  expedient  of  taking  a  time 
of  rest  and  forming  a  new  and  beautiful  body. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  CNA  WERS.  233 


CHAPTER   XL 

INSECT    SIPPERS    AND    GNAWERS    WHICH    REMODEL 
THEIR    BODIES    WITHIN    THEIR    COATS. 


And  many  an  antenatal  tomb, 
Where  butterflies  dream  of  the  life  to  come, 
She  left  clinging  round  the  smooth  and  dark 
Edge  of  the  odorous  cedar  bark. 

THE  SENSITIVE  PLANT. 


MONG   all    the   strange  and 
puzzling  facts  in  the  history 
of  living  things  there  is  per- 
haps   none    which     has    at- 
tracted   so   much   attention  as   the 
complete  metamorphosis  or  change 
in  the  bodies  of  insects,  by  means 
of  which   a  creature  begins  its  life 
in   one  form,  then  hangs  itself  up 
in  a  hard  skin  or  a  silken  shroud, 
or   buries    itself  out   of  sight,   and 
comes  out  at   last  so  totally  differ- 
ent in   appearance,  that  if  we  had 
not  watched  it  passing  from  the  one 
shape   to  the  other  we  could  never 
have  believed  it  to  be  the  same  creature. 

Who  would  believe  at  first  sight  that  a  butterfly 
or  moth  had  once  been  a  creeping  caterpillar  ;  or 
that  the  hurrying  busy  beetle  and  the  active  fly  had 


234  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

burrowed  as  maggots  or  grubs  in  decaying  matter,  or 
in  the  trunks  of  trees,  or  in  the  fruits  and  flowers  of 
plants  ;  or  still  less  that  each  active  hopping  flea 
once  rolled  about  helplessly  as  a  little  hairy  grub 
and  span  a  tiny  silk  cocoon,  in  which  its  present 
body  was  formed  ? 

To  those  who  have  only  paid  attention  to  the 
higher  animals,  such  as  birds,  fishes,  and  quadrupeds, 
which,  when  they  are  born  have  already  assumed  a 
fairly  settled  form,  this  springing  up  of  one  being 
out  of  the  husk  of  another  apparently  quite  unlike  it, 
seems  strange  and  unnatural ;  and  in  olden  times  all 
kinds  of  fanciful  ideas  were  connected  with  the 
metamorphosis  of  insects.  But  if  we  begin,  as  we 
have  now  done,  by  Life's  simplest  children,  and  see 
how  in  each  successive  group  the  necessity  for 
making  the  best  of  everything  causes  many  creatures 
to  alter  their  form  and  habits  at  different  periods  of 
their  lives,  then  these  curious  changes  in  insects  have 
a  real  meaning,  and  we  can  set  to  work  patiently  in 
the  hope  of  discovering  what  advantage  they  are  to 
the  creature  which  undergoes  them. 

Thus,  for  example,  we  have  already  found  the 
sponge  beginning  as  a  swimming  animal  (see  p.  38), 
and  then  drawing  in  its  lashes  and  settling  down  to 
build  a  solid  skeleton  clothed  with  a  colony  of  cells  ; 
while  the  lasso-throwers  begin  by  swimming,  go  on 
as  stationary,  branching  and  budding  animals,  and 
end  by  throwing  off  egg-bearing  jelly-bells  quite  as 
unlike  the  animal  tree  as  a  butterfly  is  unlike  a 
caterpillar.  In  the  star-fish  and  sea-urchins  the 
transformation  scene  is  still  more  curious,  for  the 
jelly-animal  is  swimming  about  and  feeding  with  its 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  235 

special  mouth  and  stomach  (see  p.  78),  while  a 
second  and  differently  shaped  form,  with  a  mouth 
and  stomach  and  feet  of  its  own,  is  growing  up 
inside ;  yet  both  these  beings  are  part  of  one  single 
creature,  and  when  the  form  within  is  ready  to  get 
its  own  living,  it  swallows  its  earlier  self  and  goes  its 
way.  So  too  the  headless  mollusca,  such  as  the  oyster 
and  cockle,  swim  about  in  their  young  life  and  have 
eyes  which  they  lose  when  they  settle  down,  while  the 
crab  undergoes  such  complete  changes  (see  Fig.  59, 
p.  167)  that  no  one  would  recognise  parent  and  child 
if  they  saw  them  together. 

We  learn  then  that  it  is  not  the  exception,  but 
in  many  cases  the  rule  for  a  creature  to  take  on 
different  forms  at  different  times  of  its  life ;  and  the 
chief  novelty  in  the  metamorphosis  of  insects  turns 
out  to  be  that  they  have  learnt  to  do  one  thing  at  a 
time,  and  after  passing  their  early  life  in  incessant 
feeding  and  storing  up  of  material  for  a  more  perfect 
body,  they  retire  from  the  world  to  spend  all  their 
energy  in  building  up  those  new  and  beautiful  bodies 
which  we  admire  so  much  in  the  lovely  painted 
butterfly  or  the  gorgeous  metallic-winged  beetle. 

Nor  shall  we  wonder  that  this  quiet  is  necessary 
when  we  understand  the  marvellous  change  which 
takes  place  in  them.  The  cockroach  and  the  cricket 
only  gain  wings  by  their  last  change  of  skin,  and 
though  the  May-fly  alters  its  apparatus  for  breathing 
so  as  to  be  able  to  live  in  the  air,  still  the  greater 
part  of  its  body  remains  the  same.  But  the  cater- 
pillar and  the  grub  have  actually  to  remodel  every 
part  of  their  bodies  in  order  to  become  the  butterfly 
or  the  beetle,  and  we  can  scarcely  say  that  any 


236  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

portion  of  them  remains  as  it  was,  except  that 
mysterious  life-power  which  brings  to  them  from  past 
generations  the  experience  to  guide  them  in  their 
development  and  their  work.  Yet  so  true  is  this 
experience,  so  well  has  the  lesson  been  learnt  by  the 
countless  ancestors  which  have  gone  before,  that 
among  the  thousands  of  different  kinds  of  grub, 
and  maggot,  and  caterpillar,  each  follows  its  own 
peculiar  road  as  its  forefathers  have  done  before  it, 
and  wrapping  itself  in  its  own  special  form  of  covering, 
goes  through  its  curious  change,  and  comes  out  as 
fly,  butterfly,  moth,  or  beetle,  with  those  weapons 
and  ornaments  which  it  needs  for  the  rest  of  its 
existence. 

Of  all  the  marvels  of  life,  surely  this  is  one  of  the 
most  marvellous,  and  why  or  how  each  one  puts  on  its 
peculiar  dress  we  can  scarcely  ever  hope  to  know.  But 
we  may  gain  some  slight  idea  of  the  general  process 
by  which  a  creeping  worm  is  changed  into  a  winged 
insect  ;  and  to  do  this  let  us  sketch  out  the  life  of 
the  common  Tortoise-shell  butterfly  which  Mr  New- 
port watched  through  all  its  changes  nearly  fifty 
years  ago. 

It  is  under  the  fresh  green  shoots  of  the  common 
nettle  that  the  tortoise-shell  butterfly -mother  lays 
her  cluster  of  eggs  in  the  early  summer,  after  she  has 
crept  out  of  the  crack  in  the  wall  or  paling,  where 
she  had  remained  hidden  for  her  long  winter  sleep. 
Coming  out  with  worn  wings  and  faded  colours,  she 
enjoys  a  short  flight  in  the  sunshine  with  others  of 
her  kind,  and  then  leaves  her  eggs  where  the  young 
will  find  food,  and  goes  her  way  to  die.  And  in  a 
week  or  two,  when  these  eggs  are  hatched,  there  creep 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS. 


237 


out  little  yellowish-grey  caterpillars,  and  these  give 
out  at  once  a  fine  silken  thread  from  their  under  lip 
and  spin  a  slight  web  over  a  leaf.  This  done,  they 
crawl  away  in  company  and  travel  from  leaf  to  leaf, 
feeding  busily  all  day  but  always  returning  to  their 
silken  tent  at  night.  They  have  no  thought  beyond 
eating  as  they  move  along  on  their  ten  cushion  feet, 
two  at  the  tail  and  four  under  the  abdomen  (cf,  Figs. 
80  and  8 1),  which  are  not  true  feet  at  all  but  foldings 
in  the  skin,  each  bearing  a  circle  of  spines  which 


£,  Butterfly's  head  ;  t,  the  trunk  ;  c  e,  compound  eyes  ;  c,  caterpillar's 
head ;  a  a,  antennae  ;  m  m,  mandibles ;  p  p,  palpi  of  the  jaws ;  sp, 
spinning  -  tube ;  cf,  cushion -foot  seen  from  underneath,  showing  the 
circlet  of  spines ;  e,  egg  of  the  tortoise-shell  butterfly.  The  true  size 
is  about  that  of  a  rape  seed. 

help  it  to  cling  to  the  twigs.  Their  six  real  jointed 
feet  (f,  Fig.  81,  p.  239)  near  the  head,  they  use 
both  for  walking  and  for  grasping  the  leaf,  while 
they  cut  it  with  their  horny  mandibles  or  outer  jaws 
(m,  Fig.  80),  which  work  horizontally  between  their 
lips,  and  then  pass  the  pieces  on  to  be  chewed  by  the 
real  jaws  within,  whose  palpi  or  feelers  are  seen  at/. 
Thus  they  "  feed  and  feed  alway,"  guided  probably 
chiefly  by  touch  and  taste,  though  they  have  tiny 


238  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

simple  eyes.  They  do  not  need  to  pause  for  breath 
since  that  is  taken  in  through  the  holes  in  their 
sides  (b,  Fig.  81),  and  they  eat  so  greedily  that  after 
a  time  their  skin  becomes  too  tight  for  the  food  they 
are  packing  into  it.  Then  they  pause  and  turn  pale 
and  remain  still  for  a  while,  after  which  each  one 
bends  up  his  back,  swells  out  his  rings,  and  so  splits 
the  inconvenient  coat  along  the  back.  Then  drawing 
out  first  his  head  and  then  his  tail,  he  comes  out  fresh 
in  colour  with  every  joint  and  hair  in  its  place,  and 
begins  gorging  once  more.  This  they  do  as  many 
as  five  separate  times,  and  at  the  end  of  these 
changes  their  new  form  is  already  growing  within 
them,  for  if  you  cut  open  a  caterpillar  just  before  it 
casts  its  last  skin,  you  may  see  the  outline  of  the 
wings  and  antennae  of  the  future  butterfly  in  a 
watery  state,  each  in  its  transparent  sheath. 

And  now  they  must  shut  themselves  up  from  the 
outer  world,  for  each  one  has  to  make  a  sipping 
mouth  instead  of  a  biting  one,  and  to  gather  up  his 
muscles  to  make  his  shoulders  strong  to  bear  his 
wings  ;  and  above  all  he  has  to  draw  together  the 
line  of  nerve  knots  which  in  the  caterpillar  are 
stretched  along  his  body  as  we  saw  them  in  the 
leech  (p.  143),  but  which  in  the  butterfly  must  be 
concentrated  so  as  to  make  great  central  nerve 
stations  in  the  head,  for  the  use  of  the  large  eyes  and 
sensitive  antennas  which  are  coming,  and  other  sta- 
tions under  the  shoulders  to  supply  his  wings  with 
energy. 

So  each  caterpillar  again  leaves  off  eating,  and 
finding  some  firm  spot  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  or  a 
post,  or  a  stem  of  a  plant,  makes  there  a  little  hillock 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS. 


239 


of  silk,  and  clinging  to  it  by  his  hind  feet,  lets  him- 
self swing  head  downwards  (Fig.  8 1).  Then  his  head 
and  shoulders  begin  to  swell,  the  nervous  knots  within 
his  body  to  draw  together,  the  air-tubes  to  expand, 
and  the  skin  to  crack,  so  that  by  vigorous  efforts  he 

Fig.  8 1. 


C,  Caterpillar  hanging  by  its  two  cushion  feet  cfat  the  tail,  the  other 
eight  cushion  feet  are  in  the  middle  of  the  body,  f,  The  six  tine  feet ; 
i>,  breathing  holes.  D,  Chrysalis  breaking  through  the  caterpillar  skin. 
B,  Perfect  tortoise-shell  butterfly, 

can  push  his  whole  body  covering  back  to  his  tail, 
where  at  last  it  drops  off,  leaving  him  hanging  by 
some  small  hooks  at  the  end  of  his  body.  A  curious 
fellow  he  looks  now  as  each  part  of  the  future -butter- 
fly is  dimly  seen  in  its  protecting  sheath,  His  tiny 


240  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

wings,  his  six  true  feet,  his  antennae,  and  his  sipping 
trunk,  have  all  begun  to  form,  but  are  far  from  com- 
plete ;  and  to  keep  them  safe  till  they  are  full  grown, 
a  clear  fluid  oozes  out  and  flows  over  all,  hardening 
into  a  firm  transparent  case ;  and  as  in  some  butterflies 
the  reflection  of  light  from  the  under  surface  of  this 
case  has  a  golden  tint,  the  name  of  chrysalis  (chrysos, 
gold)  has  been  given  to  the  still  and  quiet  form  ; 
but  the  word  pupa  (doll)  is  perhaps  better,  because 
many  have  not  this  golden  hue. 

It  is  within  this  sheath  that  in  about  three  weeks 
the  butterfly's  body  is  gradually  formed,  and  all  the 
fat  which  the  caterpillar  had  stored  in  the  spaces  of 
its  body  is  worked  up  into  muscle  and  nerve  and 
egg-producing  parts.  At  last  all  is  complete  ;  the 
head,  shoulders,  and  abdomen  have  taken  on  their 
real  shape  ;  the  delicate  tinted  scales  which  cover  the 
wings,  and  deck  them  with  gorgeous  colours,*"  are 
full  grown  ;  the  wings  themselves,  made  of  two  layers 
of  skin  between  which  are  the  air-tubes  and  the 
veins  presently  to  be  filled  with  colourless  blood,  are 
all  ready ;  while  the  little  pockets  in  the  body  which 
make  the  full-grown  insect  so  much  lighter  than 
the  caterpillar,  are  waiting  to  be  expanded  with  air. 
The  nerves  begin  to  send  messages  to  the  limbs  to 
move,  and  the  perfect  butterfly,  splitting  its  trans- 
parent covering,  creeps  out  into  the  world,  slowly  but 
surely  inflates  its  body  and  wings,  and  letting  them 
dry  in  the  sun,  soars  off  to  sip  the  flowers  and  find 
a  mate. 

But  what  a  different  creature  we  have  here  from 

*  Hence  the  name  Lepidoptera  (lepis  a  scale,  pteron  a  wing),  or 
scale-winged  insects. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS,  241 

the  creeping,  gnawing,  spinning  caterpillar  !  The  two 
lips  of  the  caterpillar  with  the  silk-spinning  tube  (sp, 
Fig.  80)  in  the  lower  one,  are  reduced  to  mere  frag- 
ments, the  horny  mandibles  (m  m),  no  longer  needed 
now  the  chief  feeding  time  is  past,  have  almost  dis- 
appeared, while  the  two  inner  jaws  are  drawn  out  into 
long  hollow  channels  and  fit  together  so  as  to  form 
the  delicate  tube  (/)  which  is  to  suck  honey  from  the 
flowers.  The  tiny  eyes  (e)  of  the  caterpillar,  if  they 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  forehead,  are  quite  in- 
significant when  compared  with  two  large,  many- 
windowed  eyes  (e  e]  which  now  stand  out  on  each  side 
of  the  head  to  warn  the  rapidly-flying  insect  of  danger 
from  all  directions.  The  tiny  stunted  antennae  of  the 
caterpillar  have  become  long  and  delicate.  The 
shoulders,  grown  firm  and  strong,  carry  the  six  slender 
legs,  and  two  pairs  of  wings  which  are  worked  by 
powerful  muscles  ;  and  over  these  wings  is  spread  a 
carpet  of  beautiful  scales,  each  one  fitting  by  means  of 
a  little  tube  into  the  wing,  and  the  whole  making  a 
brilliant  pattern  to  attract  the  eyes  of  the  mate 
which  the  butterfly  now  wishes  to  find.  The  abdomen 
has  lost  on  the  outside  the  cushion  feet  which  are  no 
longer  needed,  while  within,  the  long  digestive  tube 
which  it  had  as  a  caterpillar  has  become  quite  small, 
making  room  for  an  apparatus  for  forming  and  laying 
eggs. 

And  yet  though  such  a  total  remodelling  has 
taken  place,  there  has  been  no  such  thing  as  death 
and  new  life  between  the  caterpillar  and  the  butterfly. 
Though  the  chrysalis  hung  in  such  a  still  and  death- 
like form,  it  was  the  same  living  insect,  breathing 
almost  imperceptibly,  and  able  to  move  slightly  if 


242  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

touched.  Only  the  life  within  it,  which  in  the  first 
stage  was  busy  storing  up  material  in  the  caterpillar, 
was  entirely  occupied  during  this  second  stage  in 
moulding  that  material  into  the  future  butterfly, 
which  in  the  third  stage  as  a  perfect  insect  completes 
the  history. 

We  see  then,  that  one  of  the  great  questions  in 
all  creatures  which  remodel  their  bodies  must  be, 
how  they  can  keep  themselves  from  danger  in  this 
second  stage  when  they  are  so  helpless.  Some  go 
through  their  changes  quickly,  and  then  they  are 
comparatively  careless  of  anything  but  to  choose 
a  secluded  spot.  Our  tortoise-shell  butterfly,  for 
example,  hangs  very  insecurely  by  the  slender  thread 
of  her  chrysalis.  But  then  she  is  generally  but  little 
more  than  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  completing 
her  change,  and  even  when  born  in  the  autumn  she 
becomes  a  butterfly  before  the  winter,  and  goes  to 
sleep  in  this  form,  hiding  in  the  chinks  of  walls  or 
palings,  or  in  the  bark  of  trees,  till  the  warm  spring 
comes  round — unless,  indeed,  some  mild  day  in 
January  wakes  her  before  her  time,  when  she  gener- 
ally dies  as  the  penalty  for  mistaking  the  season. 

But  the  common  cabbage  butterfly,  if  born  late 
in  the  year,  often  remains  as  a  chrysalis  from  Sep- 
tember to  April,  and  would  hang  very  unsafely 
exposed  to  the  rough  winds  if  merely  attached  by 
the  tail.  So  the  caterpillars  of  this  butterfly,  as  of 
many  others,  bind  themselves  firmly  to  the  paling  or 
wall  by  a  narrow  band  of  silk.  If  you  can  catch 
sight  of  this  caterpillar  just  when  beginning  its 
change,  you  may  see  it  first  make  a  little  tuft  of  silk 
(t,  Fig.  82),  in  which  it  plants  its  tail,  and  then 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNAWERS. 


243 


turning  back  its  head,  pass  the  silk  from  its  tip 
across  and  across  the  body  (b  &),  so  that  by  and  by 
when  the  skin  is  shed,  the  chrysalis  remains  firmly 
tied  to  the  paling. 

One  of  these  two  ways  of  fastening  themselves 
are  followed  by  almost  all  the  caterpillars  of  butter- 
flies, except  a  few  which  roll  themselves  in  leaves  or 
bind   themselves   in   slender  webs.      But  the  moth- 
Fig.  82. 


Caterpillar  and  Chrysalis  of  Cabbage  Butterfly  *  bound  to  a  paling. 

t,  Tuft  of  silk  holding  the  tail  ;  b  b,  Silken  band  securing 

the  chrysalis. 

caterpillars  are  much  more  clever  at  hiding,  and  in 
many  ways  are  more  interesting  than  those  of  butter- 
flies. 

Naturalists  are  in  the  habit  of  dividing  the  Lepi- 
doptera  or  scale -winged  insects  into  moths  and 
butterflies,  and  although  there  is  no  real  distinction 
between  them,  yet  in  a  general  way  it  is  not  difficult 
to  tell  them  apart. 

A  moth,  as  a  rule,  lays  its  wings  down  upon  its 

*  Pieris  brassica. 


244  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

back  when  at  rest,  while  a  butterfly  folds  them  up, 
back  to  back  against  each  other,  and  though  some 
moths  copy  the  butterflies  in  this,  they  are  not  many. 
Again,  most  butterflies  have  their  antennae  thick 
at  the  tip,  while  those  of  moths  are  more  generally 
fine  at  the  end,  and  thicker  in  the  middle,  and  are 
often  beautifully  feathered,  but  this  rule  also  is  not 
without  exceptions.  Again,  the  wings  of  moths  are 
fastened  together  by  a  kind  of  hook,  which  makes 
them  work  much  more  strongly,  and  not  with  the 
irregular  movement  which  we  find  in  butterflies ; 
lastly,  the  shoulders  of  moths  are  broader  than 
those  of  most  butterflies,  and  less  distinctly  divided 
by  a  waist  from  the  abdomen.  By  some  of  these 
characters,  as  well  as  in  many  cases  by  their  noc- 
turnal habits,  moths  may  be  generally  known,  al- 
though it  must  be  remembered  that  they  are  such 
near  relations  to  the  butterflies,  that  no  clear  line  can 
be  drawn  between  the  two. 

But  in  their  habits  and  devices,  the  moths  far 
outstrip  the  butterflies.  It  is  their  caterpillars  which 
among  the  sphinx  moths  remain  motionless  for 
hours  on  twigs  with  the  head  bent  down,  so  as 
to  look  like  part  of  the  bush ;  thus  escaping  the 
notice  of  the  birds,  which  would  eat  them,  and  of  the 
ichneumon-flies  which  would  lay  their  eggs  on  their 
bodies.  And  these  same  caterpillars,  when  the  time 
of  their  rest  comes,  burrow  into  the  ground,  and  line 
their  home  with  varnished  silk,  so  that  no  water  can 
creep  in.  Here,  safe  and  sound  from  wet  and  cold, 
they  cast  off  their  skin  for  the  last  time,  and  lie  as 
pupae  during  the  long  winter,  till  the  warmth  of  June 
wakes  them  into  moth  life. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  245 

It  is  the  caterpillars  of  moths,  too,  which  spin 
those  silken  cocoons  which  hang  from  tree  or  bush, 
or  under  walls  and  palings ;  homes  so  delicate,  and 
yet  so  dry  and  snug,  that  the  tender  pupa  lying 
freely  inside  them  is  like  a  child  in  its  warm  bed  at 
night.  Any  one  who  has  kept  silkworms  will 
know  how  cleverly  the  caterpillar,  bending  its  head 
back  towards  its  tail  so  that  its  feet  are  outside, 
begins  its  outer  egg-shaped  layer  of  silk  by  moving 
its  head  to  and  fro  in  some  nook  or  corner,  and 
leaving  a  bed  of  fluff  within  which  it  spins  the  coil 
of  finer  silk.  You  may  watch  the  cocoon  growing 
for  a  time  as  the  caterpillar's  head  moves  round 
and  round  in  an  oval  form,  leaving  its  silken  trail 
behind  it.  But  gradually  the  meshes  grow  finer  and 
finer,  and  you  can  no  longer  see  through  them,  while 
still  the  industrious  creature  goes  on  till  its  head  has 
been  round  the  oval  at  least  three  hundred  thousand 
times,  and  it  has  made  a  stout  cocoon. 

Once  safe  inside  its  silken  house,  it  pushes  off  its 
caterpillar  skin  and  remains  a  protected  pupa  for  a 
fortnight  or  more.  Then,  if  you  have  not  already 
robbed  it  of  its  silk,  the  moth,  after  it  has  crept  out 
of  the  pupa  skin,  must  work  its  way  through  the 
cocoon.  This  it  does  by  giving  out  a  liquid  which 
is  contained  in  a  little  bladder  in  its  head,  and 
soaking  the  silken  wall  so  as  to  separate  the  threads 
and  make  a  path  for  itself  to  the  outer  air.  But 
curiously  enough  it  will  not  attempt  to  fly  far,  for  the 
silkworm  moth,  belonging  as  it  does  to  a  genus 
already  feeble  in  flight,  and  having  besides  been 
kept  in  confinement  for  generation  after  generation, 
makes  scarcely  any  use  of  its  wings. 


246 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Out  of  just  such  cocoons  as  this,  but  of  coarser 
make,  with  a  tiny  hole  left  at  one  end,  come  the 
beautiful  emperor-moth,  the  night  peacock,  and  the 
curious  Oak-eggar  moth,  whose  caterpillar  sleeps 
all  through  the  autumn  and  winter  before  beginning 
to  feed  and  spin  its  cocoon  ;  while  the  Burnet  moths 

Fig.  83. 


The  six-spot  Burnet-Moth.* 
c,  Caterpillar ;  co,  cocoon  ;  m,  perfect  moth. 

(Fig.  83)  often  spin  very  thin  cocoons  covered  with 
a  kind  of  varnish  which  makes  them  as  strong  as 
parchment.  With  a  little  trouble  you  may  often  find 
the  empty  cases  of  these  and  other  moths  left  on  the 
grass  and  bushes  in  July  and  August,  when  the  insects 
are  fluttering  over  the  gardens  and  fields.  But  the 

*  Zyg<zna  filipenditla. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS. 


247 


cocoons  of  the  Procession-moths,  which  climb  the 
oak-trees  at  night  to  feed,  you  will  find  all  enclosed 
in  one  large  nest  of  silk,  for  these  caterpillars  live 
in  companies  in  a  hanging  web,  and  when  they  are 


Fig.  84. 


ready  to  remodel 
their  bodies,  they 
strengthen  the  web 
with  their  moulted 
skins,  and  lie  all 
together,  each  spin- 
ning his  tiny  cocoon 
round  his  body. 

Again,  there  are 
many  caterpillars 
which  have  not  suf- 
ficient silk  to  spin 
a  whole  cocoon,  and 
they  have  learnt 
other  devices.  Thus, 
some  of  the  sphinx 
caterpillars  make 
cocoons  of  dried 

leaves,     woven      to-  Psyche  graminella. 

°"Cther      and      lined         g,   Front  part  of  the  caterpillar  with  the 
In'fl-i  cilt  •  anH  rnll^rl     six    true  feet  •   C>  Case  °f  Straw'  and  SraSS 

with  silk,  and  rolled  covering  the  rest  of  the  caterpiiiar,  and  in 

Up  in  these,  they  lie    which  it  will  hide  as  a  chrysalis  ;  m,  perfect 

under  the  cover  of  moth- 

some  stone  or  bush.  The  hairy  caterpillars  also,  many 
of  them  use  their  hairs  for  the  cocoons,  binding  them 
together  with  a  little  silk  ;  while  a  group  of  moths 
called  Psyches  (Fig.  84),  because  they  are  so  small  and 
light,  come  from  caterpillars,  which,  as  soon  as  they  are 
born,  take  pieces  of  straw,  or  leaf,  or  grass,  and  bind 


248  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

them  together  into  cases,  in  which  they  live,  feeding 
under  cover  of  the  little  house,  which  they  enlarge 
from  time  to  time,  and  use  later  on  to  shelter  their 
chrysalis.  It  is  worth  noticing  that  these  cater- 
pillars, living  in  a  case,  do  not  need  broad  false-feet 
to  clasp  the  stems,  so  these  are  reduced  to  quite  small 
cushions,  with  a  ring  of  strong  hooks  to  hold  fast 
to  the  case.  Then  there  are  the  leaf-rolling  cater- 
pillars, which  twist  up  the  margins  of  leaves,  and  use 
their  silk  to  bind  them  into  tubes  for  their  resting- 
places,  while  the  huge  caterpillar  of  the  Goat-moth 
gnaws  its  way  into  the  old  trunks  of  willows  and 
elms,  and  after  feeding  and  tunneling  there  for  three 
years,  creeps  just  under  the  bark,  and  gums  together 
a  cocoon  of.  powdered  wood  lined  with  soft  silk,  in 
which  it  lies  safe  and  snug  till  transformed  into  the 
large  and  beautiful  moth. 

It  would  require  a  whole  volume  to  trace  out  the 
many  devices  of  the  moth-caterpillars  to  escape  their 
enemies  ;  and  to  find  shelter  from  wind  and  weather 
during  their  retreat  from  the  world,  in  some  cases  of 
weeks,,  and  in  others  of  many  months.  But,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Goat-moth,  all  those  of  which 
we  have  spoken  feed  openly  as  long  as  they  are 
caterpillars  on  the  leaves  of  trees  and  plants,  and 
have  no  special  means  beyond  their  green  or  brown 
colour,  or  sometimes  their  nauseous  flavour,  for  elud- 
ing their  persecutors.  It  remained  for  the  tiny  Leaf- 
miners  to  find  out  the  plan  of  living  between  the 
two  sides  of  a  leaf,  and  so  eating  their  way  peacefully 
in  covered  galleries.  These  little  caterpillars  coming 
out  of  their  eggs  on  the  under  side  of  a  rose-leaf,  or 
honeysuckle  leaf,  bore  at  once  into  it,  and  creep 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS. 


249 


along  eating  the  flesh  of  the  leaf  between  the  two 
surfaces,  till  they  are  full  fed,  and  then  they  pierce 
through  the  upper  skin,  and  creeping  out  spin  those 
curious  little  orange  cocoons  which  you  may  find  in 
the  summer  clinging  to  the  stems  of  roses.  If  you 
haveonce  looked  for  the  tracks  of  these  tiny  insects,you 


Fig.  85. 


may  easily  find  them 
showing  as  pale  wavy 
lines  on  the  honey- 
suckle and  other  leaves. 
So  you  may  also 
trace  lines  something 
of  the  same  kind,  but 
more  unpleasant  in 
our  eyes,  on  our  own 
woollen  clothes  which 
have  been  laid  by  for 
the  summer.  These 
are  made  by  cater- 
pillars of  the  same 
family  as  the  leaf- 

.      J    ,     L  The  Clothes-Moth.* 
miners,  but  as  there  are 

.             .  g,  Grub  feeding  in  its  woollen  tube 

no  covering  skins  here  t.  ^  naked  grab  taken  out  of  the 

between  which  they  can  tube  ;  /,  pupa  hanging  in  the  tube; 

lie,  the  clever  little  fel-  m'  moth' 

lows  build  tubes  for  themselves  (t,  Fig.  85)  out  of  the 
wool  which  they  tear  off  the  clothes.  They  live  in 
these  just  as  the  Psyche  caterpillars  live  in  the  grass 
tubes,  and  when  they  are  going  to  remodel  their  bodies 
they  close  one  end  of  the  tube  and  fasten  it  to  the 
side  of  the  box  or  cupboard  (p,  Fig.  8$),  and  then 
turning  themselves  with  their  head  to  the  open  end, 

*   Tinea  tapetzdla. 


250  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

are  ready  to  come  out  when  they  have  developed 
into  those  little  grey  moths  we  know  but  too  well. 

And  here  we  must  leave  the  butterflies  and  moths, 
without  touching  upon  those  moth-caterpillars  which 
live  in  the  water,  or  those  which  steal  the  honey  from 
the  bees,  or  the  tiny  butterfly-caterpillars  which  live  in 
the  clover  and  grass,  and  whose  eggs  we  tread  upon 
as  we  walk.  Each  little  butterfly  or  moth  which  we 
watch  gamboling  in  the  sunshine,  or  disturb  from  its 
sleep  in  the  hedges  or  on  the  moss-covered  walls,  has 
its  own  habits  and  history,  its  favourite  plant  on  which 
it  feeds  and  to  which  its  caterpillar  feet  are  often  spe- 
cially adapted,  its  time  for  flying  and  for  resting,  its 
special  hiding-places  for  its  pupa,  and  its  own  lovely 
markings  on  the  wings,  which  when  open  attract  its 
mates,  and  when  closed  often  shelter  it  by  making  it 
look  like  the  plants  upon  which  it  alights;  while  many 
moths  which  fly  at  night  have  even  a  peculiar  scent 
by  which  they  find  each  other  in  the  dark.  And  one 
and  all  have  their  object  in  life — the  male  butterflies 
to  find  a  mate,  and  the  mothers  to  find  the  plant  on 
which  they  themselves  fed  as  caterpillars,  there  to  lay 
their  eggs.  Moreover,  they  are  unconsciously  doing 
useful  work,  for  as  they  pass  from  flower  to  flower 
sipping  the  honey,  they  carry  the  pollen -dust  on 
their  bodies  and  fertilise  the  lovely  blossoms  which 
enliven  our  fields  and  hedges,  and  in  so  doing  help 
to  make  the  seeds  which  grow  up  into  fresh  plants 
for  those  which  come  after  them. 

But  as  these  delicate  children  of  Life  flutter 
through  the  world,  innumerable  dangers  meet  them 
on  their  way — as  caterpillars,  pupae,  and  butterflies, 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  251 

hundreds  are  destroyed  by  birds  and  by  other  insects, 
while  the  pitiless  wind  and  soaking  rain  of  our  English 
summers  often  batter  their  tender  wings  before  they 
can  creep  under  shelter.  In  this  respect  they  are  far 
worse  off  than  our  next  group,  the  Beetles,  which  are 
gnawing  insects  during  both  the  active  seasons  of  their 
life,  and  whose  front  wings  are  not  used  in  flying,  but 
form  those  beautiful  sheaths  called  elytra,""7  which  so 
often  make  these  insects  look  like  brilliant  jewels. 
These  elytra  in  many  beetles  are  very  hard  and 
strong,  and  serve  to  cover  up  safely  the  pair  of  large 
transparent  hind  wings  which  are  used  in  flying. 

There  can  scarcely  be  any  doubt  that  the  beetles 
are  especially  well  provided  with  weapons  for  fighting 
the  battle  of  life,  for  they  have  not  only  managed  to 
spread  into  every  country  on  the  globe,  but  are  by 
far  the  most  numerous  of  all  insects.  From  the  huge 
Goliath  beetle  of  Africa,  five  inches  long,  down  to  the 
minute  rove -beetles  which  give  such  sharp  pricks 
when  they  fly  into  our  eyes  on  summer  evenings, 
beetles  are  of  all  sizes,  and  live  in  almost  all  con- 
ceivable ways.  While  many  feed  on  plants,  others 
are  fierce  hunters  and  even  cannibals,  devouring 
each  other  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  while  a  very 
large  number  feed  on  dead  and  decaying  matter  and 
are  most  useful  scavengers,  and  not  a  few  feed  on 
animals  when  young,  and  plants  after  they  awake 
from  their  long  sleep.  For  beetles,  like  butterflies, 
have  three  lives — first  as  grubs  or  maggots  ;  secondly 
as  helpless  pupae  or  swaddled  insects  ;  and  it  is  only 
when  they  come  to  the  third  stage  that  they  are  true 
beetles,  with  wings  and  the  power  of  laying  eggs. 

*  For  this  reason  they  are  called  sheath-winged  insects,  or  Coleoptera 
(koleos  sheath,  pteron  wing). 


252 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


The  cockchafer  or  May-bug,  which  blunders  up 
against  us  as  he  flies  heavily  in  the  night  air,  began 
his  life  underground  more  than  three  years  ago. 
His  mother,  groping  down  into  the  earth  in  the  early 
spring,  hid  herself  there  and  laid  from  thirty  to  forty 

Fig.  86. 


Life  of  a  Cockchafer.* — From  Blanchard. 

g,  Young  grub  feeding  in  the  earth  ;  c,  cocoon;  S,  a  cocoon  cut 
open  to  show  pupa  of  the  cockchafer  with  beginning  of  wings.  Above 
ground  the  cockchafer  is  shown  both  walking  and  flying,  e,  Elytra, 
or  wing-covers. 

eggs,  which,  at  the  end  of  about  five  weeks,  were 
hatched  and  became  blind  white  grubs  (g,  Fig.  86) 
with  six  slender  black  legs  and  hard  horny  jaws. 
After  a  short  time  these  grubs  set  to  work  to  gnaw 

*  Meklonlha  vulgaris. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  253 

the  tender  roots  of  the  young  summer  plants,  and 
during  the  next  three  years  fed  vigorously  under- 
ground, eating  first  what  was  near  them  and  then 
making  galleries  in  all  directions,  and  devouring  the 
roots  of  strawberry  plants  or  rose-trees,  oats  or  corn,  or 
clover,  till  many  were  devoured  themselves  by  moles 
and  hedgehogs,  or,  if  they  ventured  too  near  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  by  rooks,  crows,  and  magpies, 
which  sit  upon  the  clods  and  pick  them  out  of  the 
loose  ground.  Those  which  escaped — and  they  are 
usually  many — burrowed  down  deep  in  the  winter 
out  of  the  way  of  frost  and  wet,  to  come  up  agan^ 
in  the  spring  to  feed  afresh.  But  at  the  end  of  the 
third  year,  after  having  shed  their  skins  several  times, 
they  laid  themselves  down  to  rest  in  the  earth,  and 
giving  out  a  kind  of  sticky  froth,  which  they  bound 
with  threads  of  silk  into  a  cocoon  (c,  Fig.  86),  they 
split  their  last  grub  skin  and  remained  as  pupae  or 
swaddled  insects  (/),  with  their  imperfect  wings 
folded  over  their  legs  and  antennae.  Then  early  in 
the  fourth  year,  about  April,  the  true  cockchafer 
began  to  stir  in  the  cocoon  and  crept  out  of  the 
ground,  hungry  with  its  long  fast,  and  flying  up  to 
the  trees  began  to  gnaw  and  eat  for  the  short  two 
months  remaining  of  its  life,  and  it  is  then  that  we 
meet  with  it  flying  from  tree  to  tree,  and  browsing 
with  its  strong  mandibles  on  the  leaves  of  the  oaks 
and  beeches  and  maples. 

The  history  of  the  cockchafer  is  that  also  of  many 
other  beetles.  The  grubs  of  the  beautiful  golden 
green  rose-beetle,  and  many  others,  live  underground, 
feeding  on  the  roots  of  plants,  and  the  great  stag- 
beetle  whose  sharp  jaws  as  a  grub  enable  him  to 


2H  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

eat  into  solid  wood,  only  makes  this  difference,  that 
he  spends  his  three  or  sometimes  even  six  years  of 
childhood  in  the  trunk  of  an  old  oak-tree,  gnawing 
away  at  it  for  his  daily  meal,  and  only  sees  day- 
light when  he  eats  his  way  out  as  the  perfect  beetle. 

Fig.  87. 


The  Nut  Weevil* 

TO,  The  perfect  weevil ;  m,  head  of  the  maggot  eating  its  way  out 
of  the  nut 

But  the  little  weevils  with  their  curious  snouts 
(Fig.  87),  which  they  use  for  piercing  holes  in  which 
to  place  their  eggs,  love  best  the  centre  of  flowers  or 
tender  leaves,  or  especially  fruits  and  nuts  of  various 
kinds,  for  their  nursery.  When  we  crack  a  nut,  and 
find  a  fat  white  maggot  inside,  we  have  disturbed 
the  forerunner  of  one  of  these  little  weevils,  which, 

*  Balaninus  tiucum. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  255 

if  the  nut  had  remained  on  the  tree,  would  by  and 
by  have  worked  its  way  out  (m,  Fig.  87),  and  fallen 
to  the  ground,  where  it  would  have  gone  to  sleep  all 
through  the  winter,  to  wake  with  a  long  thin  snout, 
and  a  pair  of  delicate  wings  hidden  under  its  beauti- 
ful brown  wing-cases.  The  pea-maggot,  on  the  other 
hand,  would,  if  we  had  left  it  alone,  have  lain  down 
just  within  the  delicate  skin  of  the  pea,  and  there 
been  transformed  into  a  tiny  brown  beetle  spotted 
with  white. 

Many  of  the  weevils  do  indeed  eat  the  bark,  and 
wood,  and  roots  of  trees,  for  they  are  a  very  numerous 
family,  and  must  find  food  where  they  can,  but  the 
greater  number  of  them  feed  on  fruits,  buds,  flowers, 
and  grains  of  all  kinds,  so  that  you  need  only  hunt 
among  the  acorns,  and  wheat,  and  rape,  and  turnips, 
to  make  acquaintance  with  these  tiny  beetles  ;  or  if 
you  seek  out  the  faded  dingy -brown  blossoms  on 
an  apple-tree,  which  remain  when  the  other  bright 
blossoms  are  turning  into  fruit,  there  you  may  find 
either  a  tiny  chrysalis,  or  a  short -snouted  weevil, 
which  has  lived  all  its  life  in  this  blossom  since  its 
mother  laid  the  egg  in  the  early  spring,  and  whose 
food,  as  a  maggot,  has  been  the  tender  centre  of  the 
flower. 

These  are  all  plant -eating  beetles,  and  they,  or 
some  of  their  comrades,  may  be  found  on  every  plant 
or  tree,  nay,  you  may  even  shake  a  shower  of  them 
out  of  the  folds  of  a  large  mushroom,  though  they 
are  so  small  you  must  get  a  microscope  to  see  them. 

But  the  Tiger-beetle  with  its  brilliant  golden  green 
wing-cases,  the  Bombardier  -  beetle  (see  Plate  II. 
p.  135)  which  shoots  out  a  vapour  from  its  tail 


256  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

when  it  is  attacked,  the  common  garden  beetle  or 
Carabus  which  pours  a  black  fluid  on  your  fingers 
when  you  catch  it,  and  even  the  delicate  little  Lady- 
bird, which  is  a  true  beetle,  are  all  animal  feeders, 
and  they  destroy  a  whole  host  of  insects,  such 
as  aphides,  caterpillars,  weevils,  cockchafers,  centi- 
pedes, and  flies.  The  young  wingless  lady-bird 
creeps  after  the  aphides,  eating  them  one  by  one 
up  the  stem  (as  we  saw  the  blind -grub  of  the  fly 
doing  in  Fig.  69),  while  the  grubs  of  the  tiger-beetle 
have  a  most  cunning  way  of  catching  their  food,  for 
they  bury  themselves  in  the  soil  with  their  mouths 
just  above  the  ground,  so  that  the  ants  and  small 
insects  run  heedlessly  into  their  jaws. 

These,  and  many  other  beetles,  feed  greedily  upon 
living  creatures,  and  are  quite  as  eager  hunters  of 
small  animals  as  lions  and  tigers  are  among  large 
ones.  You  need  only  watch  the  ugly  cocktail  beetle 
(Plate  II.  p.  135)  scampering  after  some  insect,  or  seiz- 
ing upon  one  of  its  weaker  brethren  as  it  cocks  up  its 
head  and  tail,  and  snaps  its  sharp  jaws,  to  understand 
how  aggressive  these  creatures  can  be.  Among  the 
water-beetles  too,  though  some,  such  as  the  black 
water -beetle,""  are  vegetarians,  yet  many  are  most 
voracious  and  c  ucl  ;  the  true  water-beetlef  (Fig.  88) 
which  dives  and  swims  so  powerfully  with  its  broad 
hind  legs,  and  carries  air  under  its  closed  wing-cases, 
is  one  of  the  most  greedy  of  water  animals,  both  as  a 
grub  and  beetle.  Not  only  does  it  devour  the  gruds 
of  may-flies,  dragon-flies,  and  other  pond  insects, 
but  it  feeds  on  snails,  tadpoles,  and  fish ;  taking 
care,  however,  to  burrow  deep  in  the  earth  out  of 

*  Hydrophilus.  1"  Dyt.ais  jtiarginalis. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS. 


257 


the  way,  when  its  helpless  season  comes,  lest  some 
of  these  creatures  should  return  the  compliment. 

This  beetle  is  strong  and  powerful,  and  looks  like 
a  dangerous  enemy  ;  but  who  would  think  that  the 

Fig.  88. 


Carnivorous  Beetles.     Natural  size. 

D,  True  water-beetle  ;  *  g,  grub  of  the  same,  showing  its  powerful 
pincers  and  strong  head  ;  w  w}  whirligig  beetles.  + 

tiny  bronze-coloured  \vhirligig  beetles t  which  look  so 
bright  as  they  dance  on  the  top  of  the  pond,  are 
also  voracious  insect- feeders !  Watch  a  group  of 
these  bewildering  little  animals  carefully,  and  you 
will  see  one  here  and  one  there  dart  up  to  catch 

*  Dyticus  marginalis.  "f  Gyr'mirJoe- 


258  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

a  passing  fly,  or  down  rapidly  to  seize  some 
tiny  water  insect,  or  to  escape  an  enemy  that  is 
approaching.  For,  in  fact,  these  beetles  have  an 
unfair  advantage  in  life,  having  each  of  their  eyes 
divided  in  two  parts,  one  half  looking  down  into  the 
pond  below,  and  the  other  half  up  into  the  air,  so 
that  they  can  literally  keep  "  half  an  eye  "  upon  any 
suspicious  creature  in  either  element.  Theirs  is  a 
life  of  many  experiences,  for  after  beginning  their 
existence  on  the  surface  of  water-plants,  where  the 
mother  places  the  eggs,  they  dive  down  as  grubs  to 
the  bottom  of  the  pond,  breathing  by  hairy  gills,  and 
leaping  actively  here  and  there  by  four  curious  little 
hooks  on  their  tails,  feeding  vigorously  all  the  while  ; 
then  they  creep  up  into  the  air,  and  spinning  fine 
cocoons  upon  the  leaves  of  a  water-plant,  remodel 
their  bodies  ;  and  finally,  as  tiny  beetles  they  lead  a 
giddy  life  on  the  pond-surface,  darting  here  and 
there  as  fancy  guides  them. 

But,  quick  as  these  and  many  other  water  and 
land  beetles  are,  both  in  catching  and  escaping  other 
animals,  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  it  is  among  the 
scavenger  and  filth-feeding  beetles  that  we  must  look 
for  the  highest  intelligence  these  creatures  possess. 
It  is  the  dung-feeding  beetle,  the  sacred  Scarabaeus 
of  the  Egyptians,  which  rolls  up  a  ball  of  dung 
with  her  hind  legs,  and  then  sometimes  alone,  some- 
times in  company  with  another  beetle  which  hopes 
to  share  or  steal  the  booty,  rolls  the  ball  to  a  con- 
venient place,  and  digging  a  hole  by  means  of  the 
large  spines  on  her  front  legs,  buries  it  and  herself 
with  it,  so  that  she  may  feed  upon  it  in  safety. 
Then  later  on  in  the  year  she  hollows  out  a  closed 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  259 

chamber  and  fills  it  with  prepared  dung  in  which  to 
lay  her  egg.'""  It  is  again  among  the  carrion  beetles 
that  we  find  the  "  Sexton,"  burying  dead  animals  care- 
fully under  the  soil,  and  then  laying  her  eggs  in  them. 

The  history  of  these  sexton  beetles  is  most  extra- 
ordinary. They  hunt  in  couples,  male  and  female, 
often  many  couples  together,  and  wherever  they  find 
a  dead  bird  or  mouse,  rat  or  frog,  they  first  feed  till 
they  are  satisfied,  and  then  drag  the  body  to  a  soft 
place  in  the  ground.  Here  the  male  beetles  set  to 
work,  and  with  their  strong  heads  dig  a  furrow  all 
round  the  animal,  then  another  and  another,  till  little 
by  little  the  carcass  sinks  down,  so  that  actually  in 
about  twenty-four  hours  it  is  below  the  ground,  and 
they  can  cover  it  with  earth,  burying  the  mother 
beetles  with  it.  Then  the  fathers  too  burrow  down, 
and  all  is  quiet  and  still — but  not  for  long,  for  no 
sooner  has  the  mother  beetle  laid  her  eggs  in  the 
dead  body  safe  out  of  sight  of  all  enemies,  than  both 
mother  and  father  make  their  way  out  of  the  earth 
and  fly  away.  Meanwhile,  the  eggs  left  in  the  de- 
cayed body  are  soon  hatched,  and  the  grubs  feed  for 
three  or  four  weeks,  and  then  each  building  a  cell, 
lies  down  to  undergo  its  change,  and  comes  out  of 
the  earth  a  perfect  sexton  beetle. 

At  first  sight  it  seems  almost  impossible  that 
such  small  creatures  can  bury  others  so  much  larger 
than  themselves,  yet  Miss  Staveley.t  a  good  authority, 
states  that  four  of  these  beetles  have  been  known  to 
bury  in  fifty  days,  four  frogs,  three  small  birds,  two 

*  For  an  interesting  account  of  these  beetles,  showing  that  the 
idea  of  an  egg  being  contained  in  the  rolling  ball  is  erroneous,  see 
M.  T.  H.  Fabre,  Souvenirs  Entonwlogiques,  Paris,  1879. 

t  British  Insects,  p.  74. 


z6o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

fishes,  one  mole,  two  grasshoppers,  the  entrails  of  a 
fish,  and  two  pieces  of  ox-liver !  Which  among  us 
works  harder  than  this  to  provide  food  for  the  little 
ones  who  come  after  us?  Or  who  can  say  that 
these  little  beetles  do  not  do  their  share  of  good  in 
the  world,  when  they  clear  away  masses  of  decaying 
matter  which  would  poison  the  air,  burying  it  in  the 
best  of  all  purifiers,  our  mother  earth  ? 

So  feeding  on  plant  or  animal,  in  the  land  or  in 
the  water,  the  beetles,  with  their  strong-jointed  legs 
and  powerful  jaws,  make  their  way  in  life.  You 
have  only  to  watch  a  beetle  forcing  its  way  under  a 
clod  of  earth,  to  see  how  powerful  their  muscles  are  ; 
indeed,  it  has  been  estimated  that  a  cockchafer  can 
draw  a  weight  fourteen  times  as  heavy  as  itself, 
while  the  bee-beetle""''  can  draw  forty  times  its  own 
weight,  and  many  of  the  feats  of  beetle -life  beat 
those  of  any  athlete  among  men.  Yet  we  find  that 
they  are  not  wanting  in  cunning  too,  for  who  has 
not  seen  the  common  skip-jack  beetle  drop  on  the 
ground  when  alarmed,  and  drawing  in  its  legs  and 
antennae,  lie  on  its  back,  and  pretend  to  be  dead 
till  the  danger  is  past,  and  then  with  a  sudden  click 
of  its  breast-plate,  spring  up  in  the  air  and  come 
down  upon  its  legs  ?  But  we  must  pass  by  many  of 
these  curious  histories,  such  as  that  of  the  parasitic 
beetles  which  introduce  the  eggs  of  their  young  into 
the  bee's  nest,  where  they  feed  upon  the  honey,  and 
of  the  blind  beetles  which  live  among  the  ants,  and 
must  even  neglect  the  soft-skinned  glow-worms  with 
their  phosphorescent  light  in  the  last  three  rings 
of  the  abdomen,  and  the  beautiful  fireflies  of  warm 

*  Tr if hins  fasciatus. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNAWERS.  261 

tropical  countries,  which  are  near  relations  of  the 
skip-jack,  and  have  two  bright  shining  spots  upon 
their  shoulders.  We  might  trace  out  in  the  lives 
of  many  of  these  beetle  families  the  peculiar  shape 
of  jaws,  le^s,  antennae,  and  the  peculiar  colours  of 
their  wing-cases  which  fit  them  for  the  work  they 
have  to  do,  but  such  knowledge  is  the  work  of  a 
lifetime,  and  at  least  a  few  words  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter  must  be  given  to  the  third  group  of  animals 
which  remodel  their  bodies,  namely  the  t wo- winged * 
flies  and  gnats. 

Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  while  butterflies 
and  beetles,  dragonflies  and  grasshoppers,  and  even 
bees  and  wasps,  have  all  two  pairs  of  wings,  yet  our 
common  house-fly  and  bluebottle,  in  many  other 
ways  so  like  bees,  have  only  one  pair  ?  This,  how- 
ever, will  not  seem  quite  so  strange  if  you  look  care- 
fully just  behind  the  wings  of  the  fly,  for  there  you 
will  find  on  each  side  a  little  stalk  with  a  knob  at  the 
end,  which  the  creature  uses  to  balance  itself  as  it  flies. 
These  two  stalks  are  the  remains  of  the  second  pair  of 
wings,  which,  for  some  reason  unknown  to  us,  must 
have  been  a  disadvantage  to  the  ancestors  of  the  fly, 
and  this  is  all  that  remains  of  them.  If  you  cannot  find 
them  easily  in  the  fly,  where  they  are  concealed  under 
some  little  winglets,  you  will  see  them  clearly  in  a 
gnat,  or,  better  still,  in  a  daddy-long-legs,  in  which 
they  are  so  distinct  that  you  may  examine  them 
without  catching  or  hurting  him,  by  simply  putting  a 
tumbler  over  him  where  he  stands  and  slipping  a 
piece  of  paper  underneath. 

*  Diplera  (from  dist  twice  ;  pUron*  wing). 


262  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

These  "balancers"  tell  us  that  the  two-winged 
flies,  the  gnats,  mosquitoes,  midges,  bluebottles,  house- 
flies,  and  cattle-flies,  are  not  made  on  a  different 
plan  from  the  four-winged  insects,  but  are  merely 
flies  whose  hind  wings  have  lost  their  size  and  power, 
while  the  front  ones  have  become  stronger  and  larger. 
This  has  evidently  been  no  disadvantage  in  their 


Fig.  89. 


Daddy-long-legs.* 
b,  Balancers. 

case,  for  they  have  flourished  well  in  the  world,  and 
myriads  are  to  be  found  in  every  town  and  country, 
while  their  different  ways  of  living  are  almost  as 
various  as  there  are  kinds  of  fly.  Some,  such  as 
the  daddy-long-legs,  suck  the  juices  of  plants,  some 
suck  animal  blood,  some  live  on  decaying  matter ; 
while  in  not  a  few  cases,  as  among  the  gadflies,  the 

*  Tipula. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNAWERS.  263 

father  is  a  peaceable  sucker  of  honey  while  the  mother 
is  bloodthirsty. 

Among  the  gnats  and  mosquitoes  the  father  dies 
so  soon  that  he  does  not  feed  at  all,  while  the  mother 
has  a  mouth  made  of  sharp  lancets,  with  which  she 
pierces  the  skin  of  her  victim  and  then  sucks  up  the 
juices  through  the  lips.  Among  the  botflies,  however, 
which  are  so  much  dreaded  by  horses  and  cattle,  it  is 
not  with  the  mouth  in  feeding  that  the  wound  is 
made.  In  this  case  the  mother  has  a  scaly  pointed 
instrument  in  the  tail,""  which  she  thrusts  into  the 
flesh  of  the  animal  so  as  to  lay  her  eggs  beneath  its 
skin,  where  the  young  grub  feeds  and  undergoes  its 
change  into  a  fly. 

For  we  must  remember  that  every  fly  we  see  has 
had  its  young  maggot  life  and  its  time  of  rest.  Our 
common  house-fly  was  hatched  in  a  dust  heap  or  a 
dung  heap,  or  among  decaying  vegetables,  and  fed  in 
early  life  on  far  less  tasty  food  than  it  finds  in  our 
houses.  The  bluebottle  was  hatched  in  a  piece  of 
meat,  and  fed  there  as  a  grub  ;  and  the  gadfly  began 
its  life  inside  a  horse,  its  careful  mother  having  placed 
her  eggs  on  some  part  of  the  horse's  body  which  he 
was  sure  to  lick  and  so  to  carry  the  young  grub  to 
its  natural  warm  home. 

But  of  all  early  lives  that  of  the  gnat  is  probably 
the  most  romantic,  and  certainly  more  pleasant  than 
those  of  most  flies.  When  the  mother  is  ready  to  lay 
her  eggs  she  flies  to  the  nearest  quiet  water,  and 
there,  collecting  the  eggs  together  with  her  long  hind 
legs,  glues  them  into  a  little  boat-shaped  mass  and 

*  A  similar  instrument  may  be  seen  in  the  daddy-long-legs  if  you 
happen  to  catch  a  female  ;  she  uses  it  to  thrust  her  eggs  into  the  earth. 


264  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

leaves  them  to  float.  In  a  very  short  time  the  eggs 
are  hatched  and  the  young  grubs  swim  briskly  about, 
whirling  round  some  tufts  of  hair  which  grow  on 
their  mouths,  and  so  driving  microscopic  animals  and 
plants  down  their  throats.  Curiously  enough  they 

Fig.  90. 


Life  of  a  Gnat. 

g,  Grub  breathing  air  through  the  tube  /;  /,  pupa  breathing  air 
through  two  tubes  t  in  the  back  ;  b,  floating  boat  formed  of  the  pupa 
skin  ;  gnt  gnat  rising  out  of  it ;  above  the  perfect  gnat  is  on  the  wing. 
These  figures  are  all  magnified  to  give  clearness. 

all  swim  head  downwards  and  tail  upwards  (g,  Fig. 
90),  and  the  secret  of  this  is  that  they  are  air-breath- 
ing animals  and  have  a  small  tube  at  the  end  of  their 
tail,  which  they  thrust  above  water  to  take  in  air. 
This  goes  on  for  about  a  fortnight,  when,  after  they 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  265 

have  changed  their  skins  three  times,  they  are  ready 
to  remodel  their  bodies.  Then  on  casting  their 
skin  for  the  fourth  time  they  come  out  shorter  and 
bent  and  swathed  up,  but  still  able  to  swim  about 
though  not  to  eat.  Meanwhile  a  most  curious  change 
has  taken  place.  The  tail  tube  has  gone,  and  two 
little  tubes  (p  t,  Fig.  90)  have  grown  on  the  top  of  the 
back,  and  through  them  the  tiny  pupa  now  draws  in  its 
breath  as  it  wanders  along.  At  last  the  time  comes 
for  the  gnat  to  come  forth,  and  the  pupa  stretches 
itself  out  near  the  top  of  the  water,  with  its  shoulders 
a  little  raised  out  of  it.  Then  the  skin  begins  to  split, 
and  the  true  head  of  the  gnat  appears  and  gradually 
rises,  drawing  up  the  body  out  of  its  case.  This  is  a 
moment  of  extreme  danger,  for  if  the  boat-like  skin 
were  to  tip  over  it  would  carry  the  gnat  with  it, — 
and  in  this  way  hundreds  are  drowned — but  if  the 
gnat  can  draw  out  its  legs  in  safety  the  danger  is 
over.  Leaning  down  to  the  water  he  rests  his  tiny 
feet  upon  it,  unfolds  and  dries  his  beautiful  scale- 
covered  wings,  and  flies  away  in  safety. 

With  the  gnat  we  must  take  our  leave  of  the  two- 
winged  flies,  although  if  we  could  study  their  whole 
history  we  should  find  them  so  intelligent  that  we 
should  not  be  surprised  at  Mr.  Lowne's  statement 
that,  although  a  fly  is  not  one-fourth  the  size  of  a 
beetle,  its  brain  is  thirty  times  larger.  In  fact  it  is 
among  these  creatures  which  undergo  metamorphosis 
that  we  begin  to  reach  a  point  of  intelligence  which, 
of  its  kind,  is  quite  as  remarkable  as  that  of  the  back- 
boned animals.  But  it  is  not  among  the  butterflies, 
beetles,  or  even  the  two-winged  flies,  that  the  highest 
instincts  are  found.  There  exists  an  immense  order 


266  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

called  the  Hymenoptera,  or  membrane-winged  insects 
(hymen,  membrane  ;  pteron,  wing),  including  the  gall- 
flies, saw-flies,  ichneumons,  burrowers,  bees,  wasps,  and 
ants,  in  which  instinct  and  intelligence  exists  to  such 
a  great  degree  that  all  naturalists  are  lost  in  wonder 
at  the  ingenuity  of  the  wasp  or  the  bee,  and  the 
almost  incredible  sagacity  of  the  ant. 

And  here  comes  a  curious  fact  which  we  find 
equally  among  the  insects  and  the  back-boned  animals. 
As  Life  endows  her  children  with  more  intelligence, 
with  quicker  brains  governing  active  bodies,  we  find 
them  becoming  more  and  more  dependent  upon 
others  in  their  infancy  and  youth.  Just  as  the  large 
and  man-like  orang-outang  remains  as  helpless  as  a 
human  baby  for  the  first  few  months  of  its  life,  while 
the  lower  and  less  intelligent  monkeys  have,  long 
before  that  age,  begun  to  fight  their  own  battles  ;"""  so 
while  the  grubs  of  the  frivolous  butterfly,  the  thought- 
less gnat,  and  even  the  more  intelligent  saw-fly,  are 
active  and  can  take  care  of  themselves  from  the  time 
they  come  out  of  the  egg,  the  cell-building  bee  and 
wasp  on  the  contrary,  and  the  thoughtful  contriving 
ant,  have  a  real  babyhood,  during  which  others  watch 
and  tend  them,  and  when  they  must  perish,  just  as 
a  child  would,  -if  it  were  not  for  the  care  and  atten- 
tion of  their  grown-up  friends.  And  this  helplessness 
of  infancy  increases  with  the  intelligence  of  the 
grown-up  creature,  as  we  shall  see  on  reading  the 
next  chapter.  For  no  one  will  deny  that  the  ant 
stands  first  in  mental  capacity  among  insects,  and  its 

*  For  an  amusing  account  of  the  difference  between  an  orang-outang 
baby  and  a  young  harelip  monkey  of  about  the  same  age,  see  Wallace's 
Malay  Archipelago,  p.  45. 


INSECT  SIPPERS  AND  GNA  WERS.  267 

children  are  more  helpless  even  than  those  of  bees. 
A  young  bee  eats  its  own  food  placed  for  it  in  its 
cell,  but  the  ant  can  take  nothing  but  what  is  actually 
put  into  its  mouth. 

It  is  most  tempting  to  try  and  trace  out  this 
gradual  progress  to  increased  intelligence  in  age  and 
helplessness  in  youth  among  the  membrane-winged 
insects.  Thus  we  should  begin  with  the  caterpillars 
of  the  saw-flies,  placed  within  their  proper  plant  by 
the  saw-like  instrument  of  their  mother,  and  creeping 
over  it  in  their  youth ;  then  pass  on  to  the  grubs  of 
the  gall-flies  which  lie  helplessly  within  the  gall-nuts 
eating  the  food  which  their  mother  has  prepared  for 
them  by  leaving  an  irritating  liquid  which  causes  a 
lump  to  grow  up  around  them  on  the  plant.  Next 
would  come  the  grubs  of  the  cunning  Ichnuemon  fly 
which,  though  feeding  on  honey  herself,  pierces  the 
skin  of  the  caterpillar  or  the  beetle,  and  leaves  her 
eggs  in  their  flesh,  where  the  young  ones  live  as 
parasites  during  their  sluggish  infancy. 

From  these  we  should  go  on  to  the  still  more 
wonderful  burrowing  insects,  such  as  the  Cerceris,  the 
Sphex,  and  the  Sand-wasp,  which,  after  laying  their 
eggs  in  a  hole,  pierce  beetles,  grasshoppers,  or  cater- 
pillars with  their  sting,  not  killing  them,  but  paralysing 
them,  and  then  storing  them  up  with  their  eggs  as 
fresh  healthy  living  food  for  the  young  when  they  are 
hatched,  two  or  three  weeks  later.  Then  we  should 
come  to  the  true  wasps,  with  their  beautifully-con- 
structed paper  nests,  built  of  wood  fibre  moulded  into 
paste,  and  their  helpless  infants  each  in  its  cell  tended 
with  the  utmost  care ;  and  we  should  learn  almost 
to  have  an  affection  for  these  industrious  creatures, 


268  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

which  in  some  ways  show  even  greater  intelligence 
than  the  bees.  Then  these  last  would  claim  our 
attention,  with  their  frugal  habits,  their  industry  in 
storing  up  honey,  their  wonderful  cities,  in  which 
each  citizen  has  his  duty,  and  their  love  for  their 
queen.  And,  lastly,  we  arrive  at  the  ants,  and  to 
these  we  must  devote  the  next  chapter,  since  to 
speak  of  the  others  would  need  a  whole  book,  and 
the  bees  we  have  dealt  with  elsewhere.""  In  the  ants 
we  shall  find  that  life  has  worked  out  her  masterpiece 
among  insects,  and  in  them  we  can  best  learn  to 
understand  how  far  we  have  travelled,  since  we  started 
with  the  Amceba,  passing  gradually  from  mere  living, 
feeding,  and  dying  atoms  of  life,  to  active,  intelligent 
beings,  whose  life  depends  quite  as  much,  and  even 
more,  upon  the  inward  work  of  the  brain  than  upon 
the  outer  weapons  of  the  body. 

*  Fairyland  of  Science. 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     269 


CHAPTER    XII.* 

INTELLIGENT  INSECTS  WITH  HELPLESS  CHILDREN 
AS  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  ANTS. 

"So  when  the  emmets,  an  industrious  train, 
Embodied,  rob  some  golden  heap  of  grain, 
Studious,  ere  stormy  winter  frowns,  to  lay 
Safe  in  their  darksome  cells  the  treasured  prey, 
In  one  long  track  the  dusky  legions  lead 
Their  prize  in  triumph  through  the  verdant  mead, — 
Here,  bending  with  the  load,  a  panting  throng, 
With  force  conjoined,  heave  some  huge  grain  along, 
Some  lash  the  stragglers  to  the  task  assigned, 
Some  to  their  ranks  the  bands  that  lag  behind  ; 
They  crowd  the  peopled  path  in  thick  array, 
Glow  at  the  work,  and  darken  all  the  way." 

VIRGIL. 

-    . 

DARE  engage,"  said  the  King  of 
Brobdingnag,  as  he  took  Gulliver 
on  the  palm  of  his  right  hand  and 
stroked  him  gently,  while  his  learned 
men  examined  this  strange  pigmy 
through  their  magnifying  glasses, 
"  I  dare  engage  that  these  diminu- 
tive creatures  have  their  titles  and 
distinctions  of  honour ;  they  con- 
trive little  nests  and  burrows  which 
they  call  houses  and  cities  ;  they 
make  a  figure  and  dress  in  equi- 
page ;  they  love,  they  fight,  they 
dispute,  they  cheat,  they  betray." 

*  Most  of  the  facts  in  this  chapter  which  are  not  to  be  found  in 
the  standard  works  of  Huber  and  Gould,  have  been  taken  from  the 
works  of  Forel,  McCook,  Belt,  and  Moggridge,  and  from  the  scientific 
papers  published  by  Sir  J.  Lubbock. 


270  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

Now  Gulliver  was  a  man  made  in  the  same 
fashion  as  the  Brobdingnagian  king,  only  in  smaller 
proportions,  and  therefore  it  was  not  so  wonderful 
that  the  king  should  suppose  him  to  be  living  a  life 
like  his  own.  But  the  little  ant,  which  we  may  take 
in  like  manner  on  our  hand,  is  fashioned  quite  differ- 
ently from  ourselves,  and  is  only  an  insect  ;  and  yet, 
strange  to  say,  almost  all  the  things  asserted  of  Gul- 
liver, and  many  more  which  seem  almost  human, 
may  be  said  with  truth  about  these  tiny  creatures. 

For  ants  make  nests  and  burrows  which  are  real 
houses  and  cities,  and  even  clear  roadways  to  and 
from  their  settlements.  If  they  do  not  dress  in 
equipage,  they  perform  their  toilet  with  the  greatest 
care,  as  well  as  that  of  their  friends  and  of  the  help- 
less infants  of  their  city.  They  can  dispute  and 
hold  communication  with  their  fellows  ;  they  fight, 
both  singly  and  in  well -disciplined  armies  ;  they 
betray  in  some  cases  their  fellow -ants,  and  carry 
them  into  slavery  ;  they  keep  domestic  animals, 
having  beetles  and  other  insects  living  in  their  nests, 
as  we  have  dogs  and  cats  in  our  houses,  and  some 
of  them  provide  food  for  their  community  by  keeping 
herds  of  Aphides  as  we  keep  cows.  Moreover,  they 
form  very  large  societies,  such  as  can  only  succeed 
by  all  the  members  working  together  in  harmony. 
In  one  ants'  nest,  made  up  of  several  separate  homes, 
there  maybe  from  50,000  to  200,000  ants, and  though 
each  ant  is  free  to  build,  or  hunt,  or  milk,  or  fight, 
or  go  where  she  will,  it  seems  to  create  no  confusion. 
In  this  way  they  are  much  more  independent  than 
bees  and  wasps,  whose  combs  are  all  built  mechani- 
cally, one  exactly  like  the  other ;  whereas  any  ant 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.    271 

may  start  a  gallery  or  chamber  in  a  new  direction, 
and  others  soon  joining  her  will  add  fresh  nurseries 
and  homes  to  the  nest  according  to  their  own  ideas. 
Yet  there  is  order  in  this  vast  multitude.  Some 
invisible  bond  makes  each  and  all  labour  for  the 
good  of  the  whole,  and  this  is  the  more  curious  as 


F,  Formica  rufa.  Hill  Ant.  Worker,  s,  Spur  ;  m,  male  ; 
/",  female  ;  g,  grub  ;  c,  cocoon  ;  /,  naked  pupa. 

M,  Myrniica  molesta.  The  little  reddish-yellow  Ant,  infesting  our 
houses,  having  two  knobs  and  a  sting. 

The  true  size  of  these  Ants  is  indicated  by  the  lines. 

there  is  no  special  leader  or  governor  among  them. 
In  all  complicated  work  which  has  to  be  done — the 
feeding  of  the  queen-mother,  the  nursing,  carrying, 


272  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  feeding  of  the  young,  the  building  of  new 
chambers,  the  tending  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  the 
defence  of  the  nest,  or  the  formation  of  new  colonies 
— all  labour  amicably  together,  without  any  apparent 
government,  and  yet  without  confusion  or  disorder. 

Now  before  we  can  understand  how  it  is  that 
these  little  insects  have  advanced  so  far  beyond 
others  of  their  class,  we  must  first  inquire  what  are 
the  chief  weapons  with  which  life  has  provided  them, 
and  to  what  use  they  are  put.  Although  ants  are 
such  common  insects  that  there  is  scarcely  a  garden 
without  them,  and  even  many  of  our  houses  are 
overrun  by  them,  yet  probably  very  few  people  have 
ever  examined  one  carefully,  or  tried  to  understand 
its  very  peculiar  shape  ;  and  if  you  can  catch  one 
wandering  about  the  garden  or  feeding  in  the  store- 
cupboard,  and  put  it  under  a  magnifying  glass,  you 
will  be  astonished  to  find  how  much  there  is  to  learn 
about  it 

First  notice  the  ringed  abdomen  common  to  all 
insects,  and  the  very  fine  stalk  by  which  it  is  joined 
to  the  rest  of  the  body,  allowing  it  to  bend  easily  in 
all  directions.  If  you  have  taken  the  garden-ant,* 
this  stalk  will  be  made  of  one  knob  or  ring,  as  it  is 
also  in  the  hill-ant  (F,  Fig.  91),  while,  if  you  have 
the  tiny  reddish-yellow  house-ant t  (M),  there  will  be 
two  knobs  ;  and  by  this  you  may  know  at  once  that 
the  house-ant  has  a  sting,  while  the  garden  one  has 
not ;  for  in  England  all  the  ants  with  one  knob,  ex- 
cept one  single  genus,|  have  no  sting.  Next  notice 
the  three-ringed  thorax  bearing  the  six  legs.  On 
each  side  of  this  are  three  breathing  holes,  which, 

*  Lasins  nigcr.  t  Myrmica  moksta.  J  Ponera. 


A.VTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     273 


Fig.  92. 


however,  you  cannot  see  without  a  very  strong  lens. 
But  even  with  the  naked  eye  you  may  discover  the 
tiny  spur  (s,  F,  Fig.  91),  which  sticks  out  from  the 
third  joint  of  each  leg,  and  a  magnifying  glass  will 
show  that  this  spur  on  the  two  front  legs  is  larger  than 
on  the  others,  and  bears  on  its  edge  more  than  fifty- 
five  elastic  teeth  (c,  Fig.  9  2),  while  another  set  of  similar 
teeth  on  the  leg  itself  (Ic)  face  it,  and  can  be  rubbed 
up  against  it.  These  are  the  toilet-brush  and  comb 
of  the  ant ;  and  when- 
ever she  has  been 
doing  any  dirty  work, 
she  will  pause,  and 
use  them  to  brush  off 
the  dust  or  mud 
which  has  clung  to 
the  delicate  hairs  and 
bristles  of  her  body. 
Then  she  will  after- 
wards pass  the  brush 
and  comb  through 
her  mandibles,  and  so  Head_eet  eyes . 

clean  them  afresh  for    mandibles  ;  /;',  jaws ;  t,  tongue. 
wor]c  Foot—s,  spur;  c, comb  of  spur;  / c, 

legcomb. 

It  is,  however,  the 

head  of  the  ant  which  is  above  all  remarkable. 
You  will  be  struck  at  once  with  its  curious 
triangular  shape,  its  large  size,  and  its  flatness,  while 
the  small  eyes  (e,  Fig.  92),  and  the  antennae  (a), 
bent  like  the  elbow  of  an  arm,  are  very  different 
from  what  we  have  seen  in  other  insects.  It  seems 
strange  at  first  that  active  intelligent  creatures  like 
ants  should  have  such  small  eyes  as  many  of  them 


Ant's  Head  and  Foot. 


274  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

have,  and  still  more  so  that  the  eyes  of  the  workers 
should  be  smaller  than  those  of  the  males  and  females 
which  do  no  work.  But  when  we  remember  the 
blind  Termites  (p.  225),  and  how  they  build  intricate 
homes  without  any  eyes  at  all,  we  are  prepared  to 
find  that  it  is  the  antennae  which  are  chiefly  used  by 
ants  to  guide  them  in  their  work. 

What  the  true  history  of  these  antennae  is,  and 
how  the  ants  communicate  by  means  of  them,  we 
shall  probably  never  know ;  for  though  it  is  almost 
certain  that  they  use  them  for  feeling  and  smelling, 
and  perhaps  even  for  hearing,  yet  there  seems  to  be 
some  other  sense  in  them  by  which  one  ant  can  tell 
another  of  danger,  or  food,  or  work  to  be  done. 

For  instance,  Sir  J.  Lubbock,  who  is  unwearying 
in  making  careful  and  accurate  observations  on  the 
habits  of  ants,  has  lately  tried  the  experiment  of 
pinning  a  fly  or  a  spider  to  the  ground,  so  that  the 
ant  which  found  it  could  not  drag  it  away.  On 
nearly  all  occasions  the  ant  returning  to  the  nest 
brought  friends  to  help  her  ;  seven,  twelve,  and  in 
one  case  fifteen  came  ;  and  as  she  did  not  carry  any- 
thing with  her  to  show  that  she  had  found  a  prize, 
it  is  almost  certain  that  she  must  have  told  them  of 
it  in  some  way.  The  ants  which  she  brought  often 
came  slowly  and  reluctantly,  wandering  hither  and 
thither  so  as  to  be  half-an-hour  in  reaching  the  dead 
insect,  and  once  the  first  ant  growing  impatient 
started  off  again  to  the  nest  and  brought  a  second 
body  of  recruits,  who  "  after  most  persevering  efforts 
carried  off  the  spider  piecemeal."  These  ants,  then, 
had  some  means  of  telling  the  other  ants  that  they 
wanted  help,  and  how  much  they  wanted ;  and  numer- 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     275 

ous  observations  show  that  it  is  by  touching  their  an- 
tennae that  they  make  these  communications.  Now, 
though  at  first  this  may  appear  almost  incredible,  yet, 
if  we  think  for  a  moment,  we  shall  acknowledge  that 
it  would  seem  still  more  strange  to  a  being  who 
knew  nothing  about  speech,  to  see  two  men  stand 
at  a  distance  from  each  other,  and  only  move  their 
mouths,  and  then  go  and  do  something  which  showed 
that  one  knew  what  the  other  wanted,  so  that  it  may 
after  all  be  only  our  ignorance  of  ant-language  which 
puzzles  us. 

Next  to  the  antennas,  the  most  useful  implements 
of  an  ant  are  her  mandibles  (in  ni),  which  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  work,  to  which  the  antennae  guide 
them.  Looking  in  the  face  of  an  ant,  you  see  these 
two  outer  jaws,  with  their  toothed  edges  resting  against 
each  other  ;  but  if  you  make  her  angry,  she  will  open 
them  wide  to  seize  you  with  all  her  tiny  might 

Does  she  want  to  excavate  a  gallery  ?  Then  she 
will  tear  out  the  earth  with  these  toothed  spades,  and 
carry  it  in  pellets  above  ground.  Is  she  cleaning  a 
cocoon  ?  She  will  then  use  her  mandibles,  tenderly 
and  neatly,  to  pick  out  morsels  of  dirt,  and  afterwards 
will  lift  the  tiny  ball  with  them,  and  carry  it  without 
injury  up  or  down  the  nest.  Or  she  may  perhaps  be 
cutting  a  blade  of  grass  to  lay  as  a  rafter  in  the  roof 
of  a  chamber ;  again  she  saws  off  the  leaf  with  her 
mandibles,  while  she  holds  it  with  her  front  legs.  Or, 
lastly,  if  she  is  fighting  to  the  death  in  a  pitched 
battle,  she  will  fix  these  strong  pincers  so  firmly  in 
the  throat  of  her  enemy,  that  even  if  she  is  killed, 
her  head  will  often  remain  for  days  hanging  on  to 
the  conqueror's  body. 
13 


276  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

There  is,  however,  one  thing  she  does  not  do  with 
her  mandibles ;  she  does  not  chew  with  them,  but 
uses  them  to  tear  and  press  the  food  so  as  to  obtain 
the  juices  and  ojls  in  it.  It  is  true  many  ants  feed 
upon  other  insects,  and  even  on  grains,  but  in  the 
first  case  they  pierce  the  skin  with  the  mandibles, 
and  then  lap  up  the  liquid  within,  and  the  seeds  they 
tear  to  fragments,  and  lick  or  rasp  off  the  starch  with 
their  tiny  tongue  (/,  Fig.  92),  helped  by  the  inner  jaws 

C/7). 

Such,  then,  is  roughly  the  structure  of  the  working 
ant,  which  is  an  imperfect  female ;  and  when  we  ask 
how  it  is  that  so  small  a  creature,  with  a  body  not 
one-tenth  part  as  strong  as  many  of  the  beetles,  and 
without  the  power  of  flying,  has  made  its  way  so  well 
in  the  world,  we  learn  that  within  that  curious- 
shaped  head  is  collected  a  larger  and  more  complex 
mass  of  nerve-matter  than  in  other  insects,  so  that  in 
the  two  large  hemispheres  of  an  ant's  brain,  life  has 
prepared  a  powerful  machine  for  guiding  the  little 
creature  on  its  road.  In  all  social  insects,  such  as 
the  bees  and  wasps,  the  nerve-masses  in  the  brain 
are  larger  than  in  those  insects  which  do  their  work 
alone,  and  one  great  secret  of  the  success  of  ants 
is  that  they  form  the  most  perfect  societies  in  the 
whole  animal  world. 

And  now,  how  shall  we  study  ant-life  ?  For 
there  are  as  many  different  races  of  ants,  each  with 
its  special  habits  and  customs,  as  there  are  races 
of  men,  and  one  description  will  by  no  means  do 
for  them  all.  The  best  way  will  be  to  speak  first 
of  some  one  race  well  known  to  all  of  us,  and  then 
to  say  something  of  others.  It  would  seem  most 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     277 

natural  to  take  the  little  garden -ant,  which  is  the 
one  we  most  often  come  across.  But  it  lives  a 
great  part  of  its  time  underground,  and  though  it 
comes  to  the  surface  to  sun  itself  and  wander  about, 
it  does  not  do  much  work  above  ground,  except 
when  it  is  visiting  its  cows  (see  p.  287).  It  will  be 
better  therefore  to  take  another  common  ant,  the 
hill -ant  or  horse -ant,'""  as  it  is  often  called,  which 
lives  a  more  out-door  life. 

You  can  scarcely  walk  through  any  English  wood 
without  coming  across  lines  of  these  reddish-looking 
ants,  which  are  often  of  very  different  sizes,  and  have, 
for  ants,  rather  large  eyes.  Their  nests  are  easily 
found,  forming  large  leafy  hillocks  at  the  foot  of  oak 
trees,  or  sometimes  in  the  open  ground.  Even  in 
England  they  are  often  two  feet  high,  and  on  the 
Continent  they  are  much  larger.  At  an  early  hour 
in  the  morning  all  will  be  still  and  quiet  on  these 
hillocks,  for  the  ants  close  their  doors  at  night  with 
leaves,  or  bits  of  stick  and  straw :  but  as  soon  as 
the  sun  rises  and  flings  its  beams  across  the  leafy 
wood,  warming  the  air,  you  may  see  a  few  ants 
creep  out  of  cracks  in  the  dome  ;  and  by  and  by, 
if  the  day  be  fine,  many  large  openings  will  be  made, 
and  soon  all  is  alive  and  active.  Some  ants  are 
dragging  in  bits  of  wood,  and  straw,  and  leaves,  to 
add  to  the  dome  ;  others  are  carrying  in  bits  of  insects, 
young  grasshoppers,  or  worms,  or  caterpillars,  whose 
juices  they  will  feed  upon  in  the  nest ;  others  creep 
into  the  blossoms  of  plants  to  steal  their  honey  ;  while 
others,  again,  seek  out  the  stems  covered  with  aphides 
or  plant-lice,  and  beg  of  them  their  sweet  juice. 

*  Formica  rufa. 


278  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

It  will  be  remembered  (see  p.  203)  that  the 
aphides  plunge  their  trunks  into  plants,  and  suck  all 
day  long,  filling  their  bodies  with  juice.  Now,  when 
the  ant  comes  running  up  the  stem  in  search  of 
food,  she  comes  behind  the  aphis  and  strokes  it 
gently  with  her  antennae,  and  the  little  creature 
gives  out  from  the  end  of  its  body  (or  sometimes  from 
the  little  horns),  a  drop  of  sweet  liquid  which  the 
ant  licks  up,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  is  pleasant 
to  the  aphis,  which  in  any  case  always  gives  out 
juice  from  time  to  time.  The  ant,  on  her  side,  pro- 
tects these  plant-lice,  keeping  off  the  lady-birds  or 
other  insects,  which  might  attack  them,  and  even 
taking  care  that,  for  a  certain  distance  round  her 
own  nest  no  ant  from  a  strange  community  shall 
poach  upon  her  grounds. 

And  now,  as  these  well-fed  ants,  with  their  crops 
filled  with  two  or  three  drops  of  aphis  juice,  hurry 
home  again  they  meet  with  others,  those  that  have 
been  collecting  leaves,  or  those  which  have  been 
sweeping  out  the  galleries  of  the  nest,  and  have  had 
no  time  to  get  food.  These  hungry  ants  run  up  to  the 
full-fed  ones,  and  stroke  them  with  their  antennas, 
asking  for  food,  and  then  lifting  up  their  mouth,  they 
receive  the  juice  which  the  others  squeeze  out  of 
their  crop  ;  for  one  of  the  principal  rules  in  ant-cities 
is  for  every  member  to  help  another  for  the  general 
good. 

Busy,  however,  as  every  one  seems  to  be  outside 
the  nest,  they  are  still  busier  within.  If  you  could  cut 
one  of  these  ant-hills  in  half  downwards,  you  would 
find  that  the  nest  extends  often  a  foot  or  more  into 
the  earth,  and  everywhere  it  is  a  maze  of  narrow 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN. 


279 


galleries  leading  into  rooms  with  vaulted  ceilings 
(see  Fig.  93).  In  the  top  part  of  the  nest,  made 
chiefly  of  sticks  and  leaves,  together  with  dried  seeds 
and  often  little  stones  and  shells,  these  galleries 
appear  very  confused,  though  with  a  little  care  they 
may  be  traced  by  the  tiny  beams  of  wood,  and  the 
blades  of  grass  and  leaves  forming  the  rafters  of  the 

Fig.  93- 


Section  of  an  Ants'  Nest. — Adapted  from  Figuier.     . 
£,  Gallery;  f,  cocoons  in  a  vaulted  chamber;  /,  larvae  or  young 
ant-grubs. 

ceilings  ;  but,  down  below,  where  the  ground  is  firm 
though  still  mixed  with  other  material,  the  roads  are 
clearer  and  the  chambers  larger. 

Here  active  busy  work  is  going  on.  Deep  down, 
almost  at  the  bottom  of  the  nest,  the  queen-ant  is 
wandering  about  with  her  train  of  followers,  dropping 
tiny  eggs  as  she  goes,  which  the  workers  pick  up 
and  arrange  in  little  heaps  in  the  chambers.  In 


z8o  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

other  apartments  are  packets  of  eggs,  many  days 
old,  and  these  are  being  licked  all  over  and  carried, 
several  at  a  time,  by  the  workers  up  into  higher  cham- 
bers, where  the  air  is  warmed  by  the  morning  sun. 
Again,  in  other  chambers  are  heaps  of  little  white, 
legless,  blind  grubs,  with  twelve  soft  rings  to  their 
bodies  (^Fig.  pi;/,  Fig.  9  3),  and  narrow  mouths  with 
soft  mouth-pieces  ending  in  a  pointed  lip.  These 
little  helpless  creatures  can  do  no  more  than  just 
turn  their  heads  to  receive  the  drops  of  food  which 
the  nurses  squeeze  out  of  their  crops  down  the  infant 
throats.  They  are  spotlessly  clean,  for  they  too 
are  licked  all  over  daily,  and  every  speck  of  dirt  is 
picked  off  by  the  mandibles  of  the  worker  ants, 
which  not  only  feed  and  clean  them,  but  carry  them 
as  they  did  the  eggs,  up  for  warmth  in  the  day,  and 
down  at  night  to  escape  the  chilly  air.  Sir  John 
Lubbock  has  observed  that  these  grubs  are  sometimes 
even  sorted  and  arranged  in  groups,  according  to 
their  size  and  age ;  for  they  live  and  grow  in  this 
state  for  various  periods  according  to  the  time  of  year, 
and  sometimes  remain  as  grubs  for  many  months. 

In  another  chamber,  quite  a  different  process  is 
going  on,  for  here  the  grubs  have  arrived  at  the 
time  when  they  are  ready  to  remodel  their  bodies  ; 
and  each  little  grub,  moving  his  head  to  and  fro,  is 
laying  down  silken  threads  within  which  he  spins 
his  soft  cocoon.  Still,  here  also  the  workers  are 
busy,  for  as  soon  as  each  cocoon  is  finished,  they 
loosen  the  outer  threads  clinging  to  the  earth,  and 
smooth  and  clean  the  cocoon  till  it  is  a  pure  oval 
ball,  which  they  can  carry  up  and  down  in  the  nest, 
though  they  can  no  longer  feed  the  little  creature 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     281 

within.  It  is  these  cocoons  (c,  Fig.  93)  which  people 
mistake  for  eggs,  when  they  see  the  ants  hurrying 
away  with  them  when  their  nest  is  disturbed  ;  for 
the  nurses  guard  their  sleeping  children  with  zealous 
care,  and  many  a  worker-ant  has  died  sooner  than 
leave  a  grub  or  a  cocoon  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy. 

Lastly,  in  other  chambers  the  final  act  of  the  baby 
ant's  history  is  being  carried  on  ;  for  after  clean- 
ing and  carrying  and  watching  over  the  cocoons  till 
the  perfect  ant  is  ready  to  come  forth,  the  workers 
have  still  to  help  it  out  of  its  silken  prison.  This 
they  do  by  tearing  the  cocoon  gently  with  their 
mandibles,  two  or  three  of  them  at  a  time.  Then 
carefully  drawing  the  ant  out  of  the  hole,  and  licking 
it  all  over  to  clear  it  of  its  pupa  skin,  they  feed  it 
and  leave  it  to  go  to  its  work,  which  for  some  little 
time  will  be  all  within  the  nest,  till  its  coat  has  be- 
come hard  and  firm,  and  its  limbs  strong.'*  When 
once  it  is  grown  up  it  may  live  through  many  seasons  ; 
for  Sir  J.  Lubbock  tells  me  that  he  has  ants  which 
have  lived  in  his  room  since  1874,  and  they  must 
therefore  be  now  at  least  six,  and  probably  seven 
years  old. 

All  this  different  work  of  nursing  and  feeding 
may  be  going  on  at  one  time  in  a  nest ;  some- 
times in  different  chambers,  sometimes  pell-mell, 
eggs,  grubs,  cocoons,  and  young  ants  all  in  the 
same  room.  But  this  is  not  all  which  the  workers 
have  to  do,  for  if  it  be  summer  time  a  number  of 

*  Among  some  ants  the  grubs  do  not  spin  cocoons,  but  remain 
naked  pupae  like  the  chrysalis  of  the  butterfly  (see  /,  Fig.  91,  p.  271), 
and  even  among  these  hill-ants  this  will  sometimes  happen  late  in  the 
year.  When  the  pupa  is  naked  the  young  ant  can  get  out  by  itself 
without  help. 


282  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

winged  ants  will  be  wandering  about  which  have 
also  to  be  cared  for.  These  are  the  male  ants,  and 
the  young  females  which  have  not  yet  begun  to  lay 
eggs.  They  have  come  out  of  cocoons  rather  different 
in  size  and  shape  from  those  of  the  wingless  worker 
ants,  and  we  do  not  yet  know  what  decides  this 
difference.  There  is  no  jealousy  in  an  ants'  nest 
(as  there  is  in  a  beehive)  between  the  queen-mother 
and  the  young  princesses ;  indeed  in  some  nests  several 
queen  mothers  live  amicably  together.  But  still 
the  workers  have  to  feed  and  watch  all  these  winged 
ants,  and  though  the  young  princesses  are  allowed 
to  go  outside  on  the  dome  of  the  nest  and  sun  them- 
selves, the  workers  never  leave  them,  and  towards 
evening  may  be  seen  taking  hold  of  them  by  the 
mandibles  and  dragging  them  gently  home  to  bed. 

By  and  by,  later  in  the  year,  all  these  winged  ants 
will  come  out  of  the  nest  in  a  swarm  and  rise  and 
fall  in  the  air  like  the  May-flies  over  the  pond.  Then 
the  males  will  never  return  to  the  nest,  but  will 
wander  about  and  soon  die,  or  be  devoured  in  num- 
bers by  birds  or  other  insects.  The  same  thing 
will  happen  to  many  of  the  princesses,  but  some  will 
be  seized  by  the  workers  and  dragged  back  to  the 
nest,  where  their  wings  are  pulled  off  and  they  settle 
down  into  queens,  and  lay  eggs.  Others  which  have 
fallen  at  a  distance  will  pull  off  their  own  wings, 
which  are  fastened  very  lightly  to  their  shoulders, 
and  will  begin  to  dig  a  hole  and  lay  eggs  in  the 
earth.  Whether  these  solitary  queens  are  able  to 
found  a  new  nest,  or  whether  it  is  only  when  two  or 
three  workers  join  them  that  they  live  and  flourish, 
is  not  yet  certain,  but  Sir  John  Lubbock  has  shown 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     283 

that  in  one  case  at  any  rate  a  queen  which  he  kept 
artificially  (Myrmica  ruginodis)  did  bring  up  some 
young  workers  from  her  eggs.* 

There  is  another  way,  however,  in  which  new 
nests  begin,  and  this  is  when  an  old  nest  is  over  full, 
or  when  the  leaves  and  sticks  begin  to  decay,  and 
the  carcasses  of  insects  and  of  dead  ants  which  have 
been  thrown  out  of  the  nest  make  the  home  un- 
healthy. In  either  of  these  cases  some  worker  sets 
off  and  finds  a  spot  for  a  new  nest ;  this  found  she 
comes  back,  and  seizing  another  ant  in  her  mandibles 
carries  her  off  to  the  chosen  place.  These  two  again 
return,  each  carrying  another,  and  so  a  little  band  of 
workers  is  collected. 

Then  they  set  to  work.  One  ant  begins  to  dig  a 
hole  with  her  front  legs,  throwing  out  the  dirt  behind 
much  as  a  dog  does  ;  another  and  another  follow  in 
her  train,  and  the  work  goes  on  merrily,  while  others 
are  still  going  to  and  fro  to  the  old  nest  and  carry- 
ing in  new  recruits.  As  soon  as  the  tunnel  becomes 
too  deep  for  the  earth  to  be  kicked  out,  the  exca- 
vators bite  out  pieces  with  their  mandibles  and  carry 
them  in  little  pellets  outside  the  hole  to  form  the 
upper  part  of  the  nest.  Meanwhile  others  are  fetch- 
ing sticks  and  leaves  to  prop  up  the  galleries  and 
roof  the  chambers  ;  and  so  the  dome  rises  above,  as 
the  firmer  part  of  the  nest  is  being  scooped  out  below. 

And  now  the  migration  goes  on  apace ;  no  ant 
seems  to  leave  the  old  nest  willingly,  but  as  soon  as 
she  is  carried  to  the  new  one  the  general  enthusiasm 
seizes  upon  her,  and  she  sets  to  work  to  dig  and 
build,  or  runs  back  to  carry  another  as  eagerly  as 

*  "  Habits  of  Ants,"  Science  Lectures,  p.  92. 


284  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

any  of  those  that  have  been  long  at  work.  In  this 
way  a  complete  train  of  ants  going  and  coming  are 
to  be  seen,  those  which  are  empty-mouthed  going 
back  to  the  old  nest,  the  others  each  with  her  burden 
going  to  the  new  one.  M.  Forel  once  counted  from 
forty  to  fifty  in  a  minute  passing  each  way,  so  that 
36,000  new-comers  would  be  carried  in  one  day. 

At  first  it  is  only  workers  that  are  brought,  but 
when  chambers  are  prepared,  then  the  eggs,  larvae, 
and  cocoons,  princesses,  males,  and  queens,  are  all 
carried  to  the  new  home,  and  the  migration  is  com- 
plete. 

The  next  step,  if  the  community  be  large,  is  to 
clear  roads  to  the  nearest  plants  where  aphides  may 
be  found,  and  to  do  this  the  workers  carry  away 
dead  leaves  and  refuse  matter,  and  saw  off  the  living 
blades  of  grass,  and  soon  lay  bare  a  narrow  path 
along  which  they  travel  in  search  of  food.  Now, 
while  all  this  is  going  on,  it  will  often  appear  as  it 
any  one  ant  was  wasting  a  great  deal  of  time  running 
hither  and  thither  in  an  aimless  kind  of  way.  But 
it  must  be  remembered  that  ants  see  but  a  very  short 
distance,  and  that  it  is  by  means  of  their  antennae, 
and  probably  chiefly  by  scent,  that  they  find  their 
way.  Moreover,  the  blades  of  grass  among  which 
they  are  moving  are  to  them  like  tall  trees,  so  that 
we  must  look  upon  them  as  travellers  in  pathless 
woods  following  a  track,  and  not  expect  them  to  go 
direct  to  their  point.  Many  too  will  seem  to  stand 
idle,  while  others  look  as  if  they  were  merely  playing 
together.  This  is  because  they  not  only  rest  from 
time  to  time,  but  are  very  particular  to  clean  their 
bodies  carefully  from  the  earth  which  clings  to  them, 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN     285 

and  when  they  appear  to  be  playing  together,  one  ant 
is  often  performing  this  kind  office  for  another.  Still, 
in  spite  of  wandering  and  resting  and  cleaning  them- 
selves, it  is  marvellous  what  an  amount  of  work 
these  little  creatures  do,  so  that  in  a  short  time  their 
new  domain  is  adapted  for  their  life. 

It  may  happen,  however,  that  all  does  not  go 
so  smoothly ;  the  new  colony  may  chance  to  en- 
croach upon  the  territory  of  some  other  ants'  nest, 
and  then  comes  dire  disaster  ;  for  no  two  nations  can 
fight  more  relentlessly  for  a  province  or  a  frontier 
than  these  little  ants  do  for  their  plots  of  ground. 
No  sooner  does  one  community  find  that  another 
is  taking  possession  of  any  part  of  its  domain,  or 
has  given  offence  in  some  way  unintelligible  to  us, 
than  the  workers  pour  out  by  thousands,  marching 
close  together  in  battle  array,  eager  for  the  attack. 
Meanwhile  those  belonging  to  the  other  side  advance 
to  defend  themselves,  and  when  the  two  armies  meet 
they  fall  upon  each  other,  two  by  two,  taking  hold 
with  their  mandibles,  and  raising  themselves  up  on 
their  hind  legs,  so  that  they  can  turn  the  abdomen 
under  the  body.  This  is  in  order  that  they  may 
squirt  out  from  the  tail  that  strong  acid  called  formic 
add,  which  acts  as  a  poison,  so  that  often  the  com- 
batants fall  dead  locked  in  each  other's  arms.  When- 
ever these  ants  are  excited  the  scent  of  formic  acid 
is  very  strong,  so  that  you  may  smell  it  in  passing 
the  nest. 

If  one  ant  succeeds  in  disabling  the  other,  remain- 
ing unhurt  herself,  she  tries  to  drag  her  victim  off  to 
the  nest,  there  to  be  killed  and  devoured.  Now, 
although  all  these  ants  are  exactly  alike,  each  army 


286  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

knows  its  own  followers,  and  it  is  very  rarely  indeed 
that  a  friend  is  attacked.  If  this  does  happen,  the 
onslaught  is  almost  instantly  changed  to  a  caress,  and 
the  two  friends  turn  against  a  common  enemy.  At 
night  each  army  returns  home,  but  at  daybreak  the 
battle  begins  again,  and  may  rage  for  many  days  till 
either  the  inhabitants  of  one  nest  are  destroyed  or 
routed,  or  bad  weather  puts  an  end  to  the  fighting. 
And  when  the  war  is  over,  the  dead  and  mangled 
are  not  left  on  the  field,  for  these  terrible  cannibals 
carry  them  off  to  their  nests  to  suck  the  juices  from 
their  bodies. 

Such  are  the  battles  of  the  hill -ants,  but  the 
mode  of  attack  is  very  various  among  the  different 
races.  The  red  ant  (see  p.  277),  for  example,  is 
much  more  wily  and  given  to  stratagem,  and  does 
not  fight  in  such  large  masses.  Again,  there  are 
tiny  ants  which,  when  attacked  by  larger  ones,  hang 
on  the  legs,  and  jump  upon  their  backs,  biting  them 
and  tearing  them  to  pieces,  while  the  larger  ant  tries 
to  strangle  them  in  her  mandibles.  One  particular 
slave-making  ant  *  has  especially  pointed  mandibles, 
and  she  drives  them  right  into  the  brain  of  her 
enemy,  throwing  her  into  convulsions  and  paralysing 
her.  On  the  other  hand,  those  ants  which  have 
stings  make  use  of  them  in  fighting  rather  than  of 
their  mandibles,  while,  as  we  have  seen,  the  hill-ant 
is  remarkable  for  the  force  with  which  she  can  squirt 
out  formic  acid  over  her  adversary. 

But,  in  whatever  way  they  are  carried  on,  these 
ant-battles  are  fierce  and  bitter,  for  ants  have  very 
few  enemies  but  those  of  their  own  kind,  so  that 

*  Polyergus  rnfescens. 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     287 

they  swarm  everywhere,  and  have  great  struggles  for 
their  homes,  and  their  flocks  of  aphides.  Indeed, 
among  ants,  as  among  uncivilised  human  races,  each 
member  is  faithful  to  his  tribe  and  bitterly  hostile  to 
any  stranger.  Sir  J.  Lubbock  has  found  that  after 
a  separation  of  fifteen  months  an  ant  belonging  to 
the  nest  was  recognised  and  welcomed,  while  a 
stranger  was  hustled  and  turned  away ;  and  what 
is  still  more  curious,  when  ant -eggs  were  taken  to 
another  nest,  and  the  young  ones  hatched  there  and 
brought  up  by  strange  nurses,  yet  their  own  people 
recognised  and  received  them  when  they  were  re- 
turned to  their  home. 

The  little  black  ant  of  our  gardens  has  learnt  a 
cunning  way  of  keeping  out  of  the  way  of  quarrels  by 
hiding  her  honey-cows.  Instead  of  going  out  to  seek 
them  every  day,  she  carries  them  home  and  keeps 
them  close  to  her  nest,  where  she  sometimes  surrounds 
the  stem  on  which  they  live  with  a  tube  of  earth,  or 
visits  them  by  covered  galleries,  or  even  puts  them  on 
the  roots  of  plants,  underground  in  her  own  home. 
You  may  discover  this  little  ant  climbing  the  plants, 
and  tempting  the  aphides  to  give  out  their  sweet 
drops  ;  and  by  carefully  digging  up  the  plants  near 
her  nest,  you  may  find  the  plant-lice  clinging  to  the 
roots,  which  run  through  her  galleries  and  her  cham- 
bers. Only,  it  may  be  well  to  put  them  back  again 
to  their  industrious  keepers,  and  you  will  probably  be 
rewarded  by  seeing  the  ants  take  them  up,  and  carry 
them  down  for  safety  to  a  lower  part  of  the  nest. 
The  small  yellow  meadow-ant*  keeps  her  aphides 
entirely  on  the  roots  of  plants,  fetching  and  placing 

*  Lasiiis  flavits. 


288  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

them  near  to  her  nest,  and  tending  them  with  the 
greatest  care,  even  watching  over  their  little  black 
eggs,  so  as  to  secure  fresh  broods.  In  this  way  she 
rarely  needs  to  come  above  ground,  and  has  no 
regular  openings  to  her  nest. 

Now,  when  these  ants  are  attacked,  they  do  not 
come  out  of  their  nest  to  fight ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  defend  it  like  a  fortress,  hiding  themselves  in 
the  lower  galleries,  barring  the  way  with  pellets  of 
earth,  and  disputing  every  inch  with  the  enemy. 
Indeed,  if  the  struggle  becomes  very  hopeless,  they 
will  escape  with  their  cocoons  and  grubs  along  their 
labyrinth  of  passages,  and  closing  up  the  road,  will 
raise  a  new  ant-hill  at  some  distance  from  the  first. 
These  ants  work  at  their  nests  by  night,  for  as  they 
build  entirely  with  earth,  they  need  the  damp  and  dew 
to  moisten  the  pellets,  as  they  plaster  their  walls. 

The  ants  we  have  mentioned,  the  hill-ant  and  the 
meadow-ant,  have  workers  of  very  different  sizes,  and 
there  is  very  little  doubt  that  the  larger  workers  do 
most  of  the  fighting  ;  indeed  in  South  Europe  and 
America  there  are  in  some  species  special  large- 
headed  workers,  which  are  the  soldiers  of  the  commu- 
nity. But  if  you  will  search  carefully  in  the  banks 
of  the  fir  woods,  or  in  the  stumps  of  the  decayed  trees 
of  Hampshire,  Surrey,  or  Sussex,  you  may  chance  to 
come  across  a  much  more  curious  sight  than  mere 
difference  of  size  ;  for  you  will  find  large  red  ants  * 
and  smaller  black  ones,  t  living  in  one  nest,  and 
working  happily  together. 

Yet  these  black  ants  were  not  born  among  the 
red  ones ;  their  eggs  were  laid  by  their  own  black 

*  Formica  sanguined.  t  Formica  fusca. 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     289 

mother  in  the  nest  at  home  ;  and  they  were  stolen 
the  summer  before,  some  time  between  the  months 
of  June  and  August,  when  they  were  lying  wrapped 
up  in  their  cocoons,  by  an  army  of  red  ants  which 
attacked  the  nest  in  which  they  lay. 

The  first  alarm  was  probably  given  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  few  scouts  wandering  round  the  nest,  and 
as  soon  as  the  black  ants  saw  them,  there  was  terrible 
consternation.  Some  swarmed  out  to  face  the  enemy, 
others  rushed  to  seize  the  eggs,  grubs,  and  cocoons, 
to  carry  them  to  the  other  side  of  the  nest  for 
safety,  where  the  princesses  followed  them,  while 
others  blocked  up  the  doors  to  defend  the  fortress. 
Meanwhile,  the  red  army  kept  growing  in  numbers, 
more  and  more  ants  crowding  round  the  poor  black- 
ant  city,  till  a  semicircle  of  hundreds  of  warriors 
was  formed,  all  standing  with  their  antennae  thrown 
back,  and  their  mandibles  wide  open.  Then  the 
attack  began  ;  the  black  ants  fought  bravely,  clinging 
to  the  legs  of  their  cruel  foes,  biting  them,  and 
striving  to  drive  them  off,  and  to  bear  their  little 
ones  away  in  safety.  In  vain  ;  overcome  by  the 
strength  and  number  of  their  assailants,  they  had 
to  give  way,  and  soon  the  conquerors  were  swarming 
over  the  dead  bodies  of  the  defenders,  and  carrying 
off  their  cocoons. 

From  this  moment,  the  red  ants  did  not  attempt 
to  fight,  except  with  those  of  the  black  ones 
which  tried  to  escape  with  their  young.  They 
hurried  past  all  the  others,  pushing  them  aside,  and 
occupied  themselves  entirely  in  making  their  way 
into  the  galleries,  out  of  which  each  red  ant  came 
with  her  stolen  treasure  in  her  mouth,  and  set  off 


290  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

with  it  at  once  to  her  own  nest.  In  this  way  the 
whole  red  army  travelled  to  and  fro,  carrying  away 
cocoon  after  cocoon,  and  delivering  them  over  to  the 
care  of  other  black  ants  in  the  nest  at  home,  which 
had  been  captured  in  the  same  way  the  year  before, 
and  had  now  settled  down  as  nurses  of  the  establish- 
ment. These  ants  took  the  cocoons,  and  watched 
and  tended  them,  and  by  and  by,  when  they  were 
opened,  the  black  children  took  to  the  red-ant  nest 
as  their  home,  and  worked  with  the  rest  Except 
that  they  are  forcibly  seized  in  their  infancy,  these 
black  ants  can  scarcely  be  called  slaves,  for  master 
and  servant  live  together  like  equals,  only  that  the 
black  ants  generally  remain  more  indoors,  while  the 
red  ones  go  out  to  seek  food. 

But  how  have  these  red  ants,  which  are  in  many 
ways  some  of  the  cleverest  of  their  kind,  learnt  to 
steal  young  black  ones,  to  help  them  in  their 
work  ?  Mr.  Darwin  suggests  the  answer.  It  is  a 
common  practice  with  ants  to  carry  the  cocoons 
of  their  enemies  into  their  nests  to  eat  them,  and 
they  tear  open  the  cocoon  to  feed  on  the  insect 
within.  Now,  nothing  is  more  likely  than  that 
some  of  the  black -ant  cocoons,  thus  carried  in, 
should  be  neglected,  till  the  ants  within  them  were 
perfect,  and  then,  when  they  came  out  active  and 
vigorous,  they  would  be  well  received,  as  ants  born 
in  the  nest  generally  are,  and  would  mix  with  the 
red  ones,  and  prove  very  useful.  Is  it  too  much 
to  imagine,  that  thus  by  degrees  the  intelligent  red 
ants  should  come  to  understand  that  it  was  better  to 
have  the  help  of  the  black  ants  than  to  eat  them, 
and  should  learn  to  fetch  them  in  numbers  to  help 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     291 

them  in  their  work  ?  One  thing  is  certain,  that  they 
know  their  own  interest  now,  for  if  by  chance  a 
female  winged  ant  comes  out  of  the  stolen  cocoons, 
she  is  killed  at  once  by  her  red  masters,  who  know 
that  if  she  lived  and  laid  eggs,  these  would  be  tended 
by  the  slaves,  and  the  nest  would  soon  become  a 
black-ant  city. 

But  now  see  how  true  it  is,  even  among  insects, 
that  those  who  always  look  to  others  to  save  them 
trouble,  become  weak,  useless,  and  contemptible,  for 
though  the  slave -making  ants  which  we  have  in 
England  *  work  with  their  slaves,  there  are  others 
living  abroad,t  which  have  become  so  dependent 
upon  their  black  servants,  that  they  can  neither  build 
their  nests  nor  tend  their  young,  nor  even  feed  them- 
sjlves.  It  is  a  mockery  to  call  the  neuters  of  these 
ants  "  workers,"  for  they  can  do  no  work  any  more 
than  the  males  and  females,  but  they  are  "  soldiers," 
for  the  one  thing  they  can  do  is  to  go  in  great 
hordes  and  fight  the  black  ants,  and  steal  their 
cocoons.  Here  their  pointed  mandibles  (which  have 
lost  their  toothed  edge,  and  are  of  no  use  for  other 
work)  come  into  play  as  deadly  weapons  in  crushing 
the  brains  of  their  enemies  (see  p.  286)",  and  their 
warlike  expeditions  are  bold  and  successful.  For 
the  rest  they  are  quite  helpless  ;  it  is  the  negro  ants 
which  fetch  provisions,  feed  the  grubs,  take  care 
of  the  princesses,  build  the  rooms  and  galleries,  and 
even  feed  their  lazy  masters.  Huber  once  took 
thirty  of  these  red  ants  with  their  grubs  and  cocoons, 
and  put  them  in  a  box  with  a  supply  of  honey,  but 
though  the  food  lay  close  to  them,  they  made  no 

*  Formica  sanguined.  t  Polyergiis  rufescens. 


292  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

attempt  to  eat,  and  many  died.  At  last,  taking  pity 
on  them,  he  put  one  little  negro  ant  into  the  box, 
and  at  once  she  set  to  work,  made  a  chamber  in  the 
earth,  fed  the  grubs,  attended  to  the  cocoons,  and 
even  saved  the  lives  of  those  few  full-grown  red 
ants  which  remained.  Sir  J.  Lubbock  has  lately 
repeated  this  experiment,  keeping  one  of  these  red 
ants  alive  for  months  by  putting  in  a  slave  for  two 
or  three  hours  a  day  to  clean  and  feed  it. 

Even  when  it  is  necessary  to  migrate  to  a  new 
nest,  these  red  ants  will  not  trouble  themselves  to 
walk  there,  but  lie  on  their  backs,  and  are  carried  by 
the  faithful  blacks,  who  never  seem  to  lose  their 
temper,  or  to  mind  the  work  which  falls  upon  them. 
The  only  time  that  we  ever  hear  of  the  blacks  being 
angry,  was  once  when  Huber  saw  the  red  ants  return 
from  a  slave-making  expedition  without  any  cocoons. 
This  was  too  much,  that  the  only  one  thing  they  ever 
did  for  the  community  should  be  neglected  !  The 
exasperated  slaves  hustled  them  and  dragged  them 
out  of  the  nest  again,  but  after  a  few  moments  re- 
lented and  allowed  them  to  come  home. 

And  now  from  ants  degraded  by  indolence,  let 
us  turn  to  those  which  have  become  so  industrious 
as  even  to  lay  up  stores  for  the  future.  Our  English 
ants  being  in  a  cold  climate  sleep  through  the  winter 
deep  down  in  their  lower  chambers,  and  in  this  way 
have  no  need  of  food ;  though  the  yellow  meadow  ants 
show  great  forethought,  according  to  Sir  J.  Lubbock, 
by  carrying  aphides'  eggs  down  into  their  nest  early 
in  October,  and  tending  them  with  the  utmost  care,  so 
as  to  secure  a  crop  of  young  ones,  which  they  bring 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     293 

out  the  next  March,  and  place  on  the  daisy  stalks, 
which  are  their  natural  home.  In  warm  countries, 
however,  such  as  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
the  Southern  States  of  North  America,  there  is  no 
chilling  influence  to  make  the  ants  hibernate,  while 
at  the  same  time  for  some  part  of  the  year  they 
cannot  find  their  accustomed  food  in  the  fields  and 
meadows.  And  so  in  these  warm  countries,  it  comes 
to  pass  that  the  ant "  provideth  her  meat  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  gathereth  her  food  in  the  harvest,"  although 
many  writers  have  denied  the  truth  of  this,  because 
they  had  only  studied  the  ants  of  colder  countries. 

It  was  among  the  lemon  terraces  of  the  warm 
sheltered  valley  of  Mentone,  that  Mr.  Traherne 
Moggridge,  during  the  last  years  of  an  invalid  life, 
set  himself  to  watch  these  little  harvesters,"""  which  all 
belong  to  the  two-knobbed  ants  (see  p.  271).  There 
they  were  to  be  found  in  the  early  spring,  as  soon 
as  any  seeds  were  ripe,  hard  at  work  on  the  rough 
slope  of  the  terrace,  tearing  off  the  seed-vessels  of 
the  Shepherd's  Purse  and  the  Chickweed,  and  plun- 
dering Pea-flowers,  Honey-worts,  and  grasses  of  their 
seeds,  and  then  carrying  them  in  their  mandibles  to 
the  nest.  Sometimes  a  young  and  foolish  ant 
brought  in  rubbish,  and  not  a  few  were  deceived  by 
some  small  white  beads  strewn  by  Mr.  Moggridge  on 
the  path.  But  these  no  sooner  reached  the  nest  than 
they  were  hustled  out  by  their  elders,  to  throw  the 
useless  burden  away,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time 
they  all  learnt  to  leave  the  beads  alone. 

Meanwhile  another  set  of  workers  within  the 
ant-city  were  busy  stripping  off  the  husks  of  the  seeds 

*  Atta  structor  and  Ada  barbara. 


294  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  casting  them  out  of  the  nest,  and  as  in  many 
cases  whole  seeds  are  either  thrown  out  by  mistake 
or  dropped  on  their  way  in,  one  of  these  ants'  nests 
may  be  found  by  noticing  the  little  crop  of  oats, 
chickweed,  and  other  grasses,  which  spring  up  round 
the  refuse-heap. 

By  cutting  a  nest  open  or  taking  a  good  piece 
out  of  it  with  a  trowel,  the  little  granaries,  in  which 
these  seeds  are  stored,  may  be  laid  bare.  They  are 
about  the  size  of  a  gentleman's  gold  watch,  and 
are  connected  by  narrow  galleries.  It  is  a  curious 
fact,  that  though  these  seeds  grow  easily  when  they 
are  sown,  yet  in  the  granaries  it  is  very  rare  to  find 
one  sprouting.  This  is  probably  owing  to  the  care 
which  the  ants  take  to  keep  them  dry,  making  the 
roof  and  sides  of  the  granaries  firm  and  hard,  and 
bringing  the  seeds  out  on  a  warm  day  and  spreading 
them  round  the  nest,  so  that  any  moisture  is  drawn 
out  of  them.  Mr.  Moggridge  even  saw  the  ants, 
after  a  shower  of  rain  had  made  the  seed  germinate, 
bite  off  the  point  of  the  little  root  which  was  begin- 
ning to  show  itself. 

In  this  way  the  ants  store  up  seeds  in  the  summer, 
having  often  a  large  series  of  galleries  and  granaries, 
so  that  from  half  a  pint  to  a  pint  of  seeds  has  been 
taken  from  one  nest ;  and  in  the  winter,  when  food 
is  scarce,  the  starch  in  these  seeds  supplies  them  with 
nourishment. 

And  now  one  vexed  question  still  remains — have 
these  clever  little  insects  yet  learnt  to  sow  seeds  as 
well  as  to  gather  them  ?  This  still  remains  to  be 
proved  ;  but  if  we  travel  to  Texas  we  find  that  one 
thing  is  certain — namely,  that  they  have  learnt  to 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     295 

clear  the  ground  round  their  nests,  even  among  the 
toughest  grass,  and  to  allow  nothing  to  spring  up  on 
these  cleared  disks  except  the  needle  grass  or  ant- 
rice,"'  which  they  store  up  in  their  granaries. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  English  hill-ant 
will  clear  a  path  ;  but  what  labour  it  must  be  to  clear, 
and  keep  clear,  round  spaces  measuring  from  seven 

% 
Fig.  94. 


Cleared  disk  of  the  agricultural  ant,  with  a  central  mound  and 
seven  roads. — M'Cook. 

to  twelve  feet  across,  on  wild  meadow  ground  covered 
with  rank  weeds  two  or  three  feet  high,  some  of  them 
having  stems  as  thick  as  one's  finger !  Yet  this  is 
done  by  the  "agricultural  or  bearded  ants  "t  of  Texas, 
which  swarm  in  such  numbers  and  clear  so  many 
spaces  that  they  actually  injure  the  farms  on  which 

*  Aristida  stricta. 

•f  Myrmica  barbata   (Pogonomyrmex   barbatus).      H.   C.   McCook, 
Agricultural  Ant  of  Texas.      Philadelphia,  1879. 


296  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

they  establish  themselves.  They  keep  the  circular 
space  round  their  nests  perfectly  clean,  never  allowing 
a  weed  to  encroach  upon  it  except  where  at  the 
edges  crops  of  needle  grass  grow,  of  which  they 
harvest  the  seed.  Underground  their  galleries  and 
chambers  often  extend  under  the  whole  disk,  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  is  chiefly  in  order  to 
get  air  and  ventilation,  about  which  they  are  very 
particular,  that  -they  clear  the  weeds  away.  But 
their  work  does  not  end  here,  for  they  make  from 
three  to  seven  roads,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
nest,  branching  out  into  the  forest  of  grasses,  so  that 
they  can  go  far  afield  to  collect  seeds.  These  roads 
are  often  more  than  fifty  feet  long,  and  it  sounds 
strangely  like  our  own  country  places  when  we  hear 
that  they  grow  weedy  in  the  winter  when  little  used, 
and  are  cleared  afresh  in  the  spring. 

When  we  think,  however,  of  the  small  size  of  the 
ants  in  comparison  with  the  vegetation  they  have  to 
destroy,  the  history  becomes  much  more  astonishing. 
Many  of  the  larger  and  thicker  grass  stems  which 
they  saw  through  with  their  mandibles  to  clear  their 
disk  must  be  to  them  like  the  trunks  of  trees  measur- 
ing six  feet  across,  while  the  round  spaces  they  keep 
clear  are,  in  relation  to  their  size,  equal  to  a  piece  of 
country  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  diameter. 

These  ants  make  their  nests  entirely  underground, 
only  sometimes  having  a  small  dome  (see  Fig.  94) 
with  one  or  two  openings  in  the  top.  Their  granaries 
are  very  large,  and  yet  they  are  not  entirely  vege- 
tarians, for  Mr.  McCook  saw  them  laying  in  a  com- 
plete store  of  male  and  female  termites  which  fell 
round  their  nest  after  swarming. 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     297 

Central  America  can,  however,  boast  of  at  least 
one  purely  vegetarian  ant — namely,  the  "  leaf-cutting 
ant"*  These  active  little  creatures  devastate  whole 
forests  by  tearing  the  leaves  with  their  mandibles 
and  carrying  off  pieces  about  the  size  of  a  sixpence 
into  their  nest,  and  Mr.  Beltf  found  that  these 
leaves  are  probably  used  for  manure,  upon  which 
a  minute  fungus  grows  inside  the  nest  and  forms 
the  ant  food.  These  ants  are  decidedly  clever, 
for  when  they  were  changing  their  nests  once,  and 
had  to  get  their  cocoons  down  a  slope,  Mr.  Belt  saw 
one  set  of  workers  bring  them  to  the  top  and  roll 
them  down,  while  another  set  picked  them  up  at  the 
bottom.  Another  ant,  which  is  housed  and  fed  in 
a  most  peculiar  manner,  inhabits  the  Bull's -horn 
thorn-tree.  This  ant  lives  in  the  hollow  thorns  of 
the  tree,  sipping  the  honey  which  exudes  from  a 
gland  at  the  base  of  the  leaves,  and  in  return,  as  it 
stings  terribly,  it  protects  its  friend  the  tree  from  the 
attacks  of  the  leaf-cutting  ant. 

The  foraging  or  "  army  ants  "|  of  Central  America, 
on  the  other  hand,  subsist  entirely  on  insects  and 
other  animal  food,  and  travel  in  great  hordes  from 
place  to  place,  clearing  the  country  as  they  go,  and 
living  in  hollow  trees  and  fallen  trunks  on  their  road. 
Cockroaches,  crickets,  spiders,  locusts,  wood  -  lice, 
centipedes,  and  scorpions,  all  fall  a  prey  to  this  huge 
moving  army,  often  three  or  four  yards  wide,  and 
the  natives  call  it  the  "  blessing  of  God,"  because 
the  ants  swarm  into  their  houses,  and  by  the  time 
they  leave  every  insect  is  cleared  away.  The  army 
consists  not  only  of  dark  workers  and  soldiers  with 

*  CEcodoma.  t  Naturalist  in  Nicaragua,  1874.  J  Eciton. 


298  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

enormous  heads  and  powerful  jaws,  but  nas  also  at 
intervals  of  about  two  or  three  yards  light-coloured 
officers  which  touch  the  ants  with  their  antennae, 
and  seem  to  give  the  orders  directing  the  march. 
So  the  column  moves  on,  each  ant  probably  guided 
chiefly  by  scent  and  the  other  senses  of  its  antennae, 
for  these  ants  are  almost  and  sometimes  entirely 
blind.  Scouts  are  sent  out  on  all  sides  to  bring 
intelligence  of  booty,  and  the  army  swarms  to  the 
right  or  the  left  according  to  information  given, 
following  the  scent  of  their  comrades. 

And  now  we  must  take  leave  of  these  intelli- 
gent little  beings,  though  we  have  not  even  glanced 
at  many  of  their  curious  habits,  such,  for  example, 
as  the  storing  up  of  honey  in  the  abdomen  of  ants 
hanging  from  the  roof  of  the  nest,  as  is  practised  by 
the  Mexican  honey  ant  But  we  have  learnt  enough 
to  be  convinced  of  their  intelligence,  and  it  only 
remains  to  inquire  whether,  amongst  all  their  work, 
they  have  any  feeling  of  sympathy  for  each  other. 
The  truth  is,  they  seem  to  care  for  the  members  of 
their  own  nest,  but  more  as  parts  of  the  community 
than  as  individuals.  There  are  many  cases  in  which 
ants  have  gone  to  help  a  comrade,  but  this  is  gener- 
ally (though  not  always)  when  she  is  still  able  to 
share  in  their  work  ;  as,  for  example,  when  Mr.  Belt 
tells  us  that  the  foraging  ants  never  rested  till  they 
had  released  a  comrade  which  he  had  covered  over 
with  a  lump  of  clay.  Sir  J.  Lubbock,  it  is  true, 
gives  one  case  of  a  poor  ant  born  without  antennae, 
which  was  roughly  handled  by  some  enemies,  and 
was  afterwards  most  carefully  carried  home  by 
a  friend.  But  these  incidents  seem  rare,  and  upon 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     299 

the  whole  the  great  guiding  principle  in  ant -life 
appears  to  be  devotion  to  the  community,  much  more 
than  to  each  other.  With  them  the  mother  has  no 
interest  in  her  children  after  they  are  born,  and  the 
workers  take  care  of  all  alike,  so  that  no  special 
ties  of  affection  are  formed  ;  and,  while  we  admire 
the  wonderful  mechanism  of  ant-life,  we  must  not 
expect  to  find  in  it  that  love  and  personal  devotion 
which  is  developed  in  quite  another  branch  of  Life's 
children. 

We  have  travelled  far  since  we  started  with  the 
shapeless  and  sluggish  Amceba,  and  have  surely 
justified  the  statement  with  which  we  began,  that  by 
giving  the  prize  of  success  to  those  who  best  fight 
the  battle  of  existence,  Life  educates  her  children  to 
fill  their  place  in  the  world. 

Much  as  we  admire  the  tiny  lime-builders  and 
their  beautiful  shells,  we  must  confess  that  the  slime- 
animal  itself  is  a  frail  and  helpless  being,  with  but 
feeble  enjoyment  of  life,  and  the  first  advance  which 
we  perceive  in  the  sponges  is  one  rather  of  architec- 
ture than  of  individual  existence.  But  in  the  lasso- 
throwers  we  already  begin  to  detect  the  rudiments 
of  those  senses  which  afterwards  become  so  keen  ; 
the  nerves,  eyes,  and  ears  of  the  jelly-fish  enable  it 
at  least  to  begin  to  appreciate  the  world  around  it 
and  to  live  a  free  and  independent  life.  In  the  star- 
fish and  his  companions  we  advance  still  further. 
Here  is  movement  by  walking  as  well  as  by  swim- 
ming, a  keen  eye  keeps  a  look-out  on  all  things 
around,  a  battery  of  nerves,  complicated  muscles, 
and  other  parts  give  a  far  more  distinct  individuality 
14 


300  LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 

and  glimmerings  of  intelligence  to  the  prickly-skinned 
animals  than  to  the  floating  jelly,  driven  hither  and 
thither  by  the  currents  of  the  sea.  In  fact  these 
creatures  stand  at  the  head  of  a  small  but  peculiar 
branch  of  life's  children,  while  we  have  had  to  travel 
along  another  road  to  reach  higher  intelligence. 
This  road  led  us  from  the  oyster,  so  low  in  percep- 
tion, yet  so  perfect  in  his  internal  mechanism,  through 
a  long  chain  of  beings  to  the  cunning  octopus  and 
cuttle-fish.  Here  we  have  the  quick  eye,  the  rapid 
movement,  and  the  power  of  adapting  things  to  the 
benefit  of  the  animal,  as  when  the  little  Sepiola  blows 
a  hole  in  the  sand  and  arranges  the  stones  round 
his  body ;  we  have  the  quick  instinct  of  self-defence 
directing  the  inky  fluid  against  an  enemy,  the  capa- 
city for  changing  colour  for  protection  or  attack,  and 
the  maternal  care  of  the  eggs.  In  a  word,  we  arrive 
here  at  the  head  of  one  great  division  specially 
adapted  for  marine  life,  though  some  of  its  forms 
gain  a  footing  upon  the  land.  Still  this  division  is 
incapable,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  of  advancing  into 
successful  competition  with  yet  higher  forms  which, 
arising  in  the  dim  past  almost  from  the  same  centre 
as  these  mollusca,  have  branched  out  on  sea  and 
land  into  crustaceans  and  insects.  We  need  scarcely 
follow  this  branch  through  its  ramifications,  for  the 
past  chapters  have  shown  the  gradual  progress  of 
intelligence  accompanying  concentration  of  nervous 
power  till  we  arrive  at  foresight,  prudence,  and  or- 
ganisation among  the  ants. 

'Still  we  must  feel  that  something  is  wanting,  and 
that  something  is  mutual  sympathy  and  help  between 
any  two  beings,  independently  of  mere  duty  as  citi- 


ANTS  AND  THEIR  HELPLESS  CHILDREN.     301 

zens.  This  we  shall  not  find  to  any  extent  among 
the  invertebrata  or  animals  without  back- bones,  which 
are  those  we  have  dealt  with  in  this  book.  Among 
the  higher  mollusca  we  find  something  like  maternal 
care  in  the  cuttle-fish  ;  and  the  scorpion  and  earwig 
care  for  their  young.  But  even  among  insects  the 
large  majority  never  live  to  see  their  children  born, 
and  those  which  do  generally  leave  the  care  of  them 
to  others.  We  must  turn  for  the  development  of 
fuller  sympathy  to  that  other  branch,  the  key-note  of 
whose  existence  is  the  relation  of  parents  to  child- 
ren, of  family  love.  If  at  a  future  time  we  are  able 
to  trace  out  the  history  of  the  vertebrate  animals,  it 
will  be  our  great  interest  to  watch  the  rise  of  this 
higher  feeling.  Then  we  may  perhaps  learn  that 
the  "struggle  for  existence,"  which  has  taught  the 
ant  the  lesson  of  self-sacrifice  to  the  community,  is 
also  able  to  teach  that  higher  devotion  of  mother  to 
child,  and  friend  to  friend,  which  ends  in  a  tender 
love  for  every  living  being,  since  it  recognises  that 
mutual  help  and  sympathy  are  among  the  most 
powerful  weapons,  as  they  are  also  certainly  the  most 
noble  incentives,  which  can  be  employed  in  fighting 
the  battle  of  life. 


INDEX. 


ABDOMEN,  definition  of  term,  156. 
Acineta  or  tube-sucker,  21. 
Acontia  or  darts  of  the  anemone, 

70. 
Acorn   barnacle,  structure  of  the, 

174,  175- 

Actinozoa,  55. 

Africa,  scorpions  of,  180. 

Africa,  termite  mounds  of,  230. 

Air-thimble  of  water-spider,  197. 

Air-tubes  of  insects,  212. 

America,  harvesting  ants  of,  293- 
295;  scorpions  of  South,  180. 

Amoeba,  feeding,  18. 

Anemone,  section  of  an,  67. 

Anemones  of  the  sea,  66  ;  group  of, 
68 ;  their  rank  among  animals, 
10  ;  birth  of  young,  69  ;  food 
and  enemies  of,  69 ;  lasso-cell 
of,  53  >  parasitic  on  hermit-crab, 
172. 

Animal,  first  walking,  89 ;  the 
simplest,  1 6. 

Animals,  distribution  of,  7  ;  which 
change  their  form  during  life, 

234- 

Animal-trees,  56. 

Ants,  agricultural,  295  ;  foraging, 
297  ;  garden,  277-287  ;  harvest- 
ing, 293;  hill  or  horse,  271-277; 
leaf-cutting,  297;  meadow,  287; 
negro,  288-291  ;  red,  288;  liv- 
ing in  hollow  thorns,  297  ;  slave- 
making,  288 ;  antennee-language 


of,  274  ;  and  aphides,  270-278  ; 
capturing  termites,  296  ;  cocoons 
of,  280 ;  eggs  of,  279 ;  food 
of,  276 ;  friendliness  of,  298 ; 
manner  of  digging,  275-283 ; 
nests  of,  279,  283,  295  ;  number 
in  one  nest,  270;  migrations  of, 
283 ;  points  of  resemblance  to 
man,  270;  recognition  by,  287; 
road-making  of,  284,  296 ;  roll- 
ing cocoons  down  a  slope,  297  ; 
slave-making  expeditions,  289 ; 
stinging  and  stingless,  272 ; 
structure  of,  272  ;  wars  of,  285  ; 
winged,  282  ;  nervous  system  of 
the,  276;  young  needing  more 
help  than  the  bee,  267  ;  feeding 
each  other,  278. 

Antedon  (Comatula)  rosacea,  90. 

Antennae  of  insects,  1 56. 

Antennules  of  prawn,.  160. 

Ant-lion,  funnel  of  the,  225. 

Aphides,  201 ;  eggs  protected  by 
ants,  287,  292;  multiplication  of, 
203 ;  winged,  203  ;  their  rela- 
tion to  ants,  278,  292. 

Aphrodite  or  sea- worm,  151;  his- 
pida,  harpooned  bristles  of, 

152- 

Apple-trees  destroyed  by  aphides, 

205. 
Arctic  regions,  small  crustaceans  of, 

1 60. 
Argonaut,  figure  of,  132  j  does  not 


3°4 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


sail,  131;  male  has  no  shell, 
132. 

Argyroneta  aquatica,  196. 

Aristotle  on  mouth  of  sea-urchin, 
97- 

Arthropoda  or  jointed-footed  ani- 
mals, 155. 

Ascidians,  103  note,  117  note. 

Atlantic  telegraph,  mud  from  the, 
28. 

Atta  structor  and  Atta barbara,  293. 

BASKET-FISH,  92. 

"Balancers"  of  the  daddy-long- 
legs, 261. 

Balanus,  structure  of  the,  176. 

Barnacles,  floating  (Lepas),  174. 

Bate,  Mr.  Spence,  on  acorn  bar- 
nacle, 1 76  ;  on  hearing  of  prawn, 
161. 

Beads  taken  by  mistake  by  ants, 

293- 

Beetles,  adaptation  of  parts  to  work, 
261  ;  undergo  metamorphosis, 
251;  muscular  power  of,  260; 
parasitic,  260  ;  rove,  251  ;  cock- 
chafer, 252  ;  plant-eating,  252, 
355  ;  carnivorous,  256  ;  water, 
257;  cocktail,  256;  bombardier, 
255 ;  whirligig,  257  ;  blind, 
260;  bee,  260;  skipjack,  261  ; 
sexton,  259;  goliath,  251;  tiger, 
255;  carnivorous,  257. 

Bees,  organisation  of,  268. 

Bell-flower  or  Vorticella,  21,  31. 

Belt,  Mr.,  on  leaf-cutting  and  for- 
aging ants,  297  ;  on  ants  helping 
each  other,  298. 

Bivalve  shells,  formation  of,  1 06. 

Birds,  rate  of  increase  of,  4. 

Black-ant  nest,  attack  on,  289. 

Bladder- worm,  139. 

Bluebottle's  early  life,  263. 

Botflies,  their  manner  of  wounding, 
263. 

Bowerbank,  Dr.,  on  sponge  spic- 
ules,  45,  49. 


Brachiopoda,  103  note. 

Brain-coral,  75. 

Breathing  of  spider,  1 88;  of 
dragon-fly  grub,  223  ;  of  gnat 
grub,  264;  of  sea-mouse,  15*. 

Breathing -chamber  of  land  snails, 
120  ;  -holes  of  a  caterpillar,  238. 

British  Museum,  shells  in  the,  1 06; 
forms  of  star-fish  in,  101. 

Brittle  star-fish,  infancy  of  a,  79  ; 
full-grown,  84-91  ;  its  move- 
ments and  habits,  92. 

Brobdingnag  and  Gulliver,  269. 

Bugs,  air  and  water,  207. 

Bunodes  gemmacea,  68. 

Burnet-moth  with  caterpillar  and 
cocoon,  246. 

Butler,  Mr.  A.,  on  spider's  web, 
187. 

Butterfly,  life  from  a  caterpillar, 
236-240  ;  head  and  egg  of  a, 
237 ;  formation  of  perfect, 
240. 

Butterflies  and  moths,  comparison 
of,  243. 

CABBAGE-BUG,  Pentatoma,  206. 

Cabbage  butterfly's  mode  of  binding 
the  chrysalis,  243. 

Caddis-fly  and  grub,  220-222. 

Calamary,  a  huge  arm  of,  131. 

Calamaries,  horny  pen  and  hooked 
suckers  of,  130. 

Campanulina,  59. 

Cardium,  in. 

Carinaria  atlantica,  125. 

Carter,  Mr.,  cited,  39. 

Caryophyllium  Smithii,  75. 

Caterpillar,  head  and  foot  of,  237  ; 
life  of  a,  236-239  ;  leaf-rolling, 
247  ;  goat-moth,  248  ;  Psyche  in 
case,  247  ;  Burnet-moth,  246. 

Cases  of  the  caddis-grub,  222. 

Cave  anemone,   68. 

Centipede,  156. 

Cephalopoda,  or  head-footed  ani- 
mals, 128. 


INDEX. 


305 


Ceratium,  Protogenes  feeding  on  a, 

I7>. 
Cerceris,  paralysing  insects  for  food, 

267. 

Ceylon,  land  leeches  of,  143. 
Chalk  formed  of  foraminifera,  28. 
Chalk-beds,  extent  of,  28. 
Chitine,  nature  of,  57,  157. 
Chrysalis  bound  to  a  paling,  243  ; 

emerging   from   caterpillar    skin, 

240,  243. 

Chysoara  hysocella,  figure  of,  63. 
Cilia,  or  whip-like  lashes,  38,  64 ; 

on  gills  of  the  oyster,  109. 
Cirrhi,   on  legs  of  acom-bamacle, 

'75- 
Claws,  snapping,  of  the  star-fish,  88 ; 

of  sea-urchin,  98. 
Cleanliness  of  spiders,  197;  of  ants, 

284. 

Clothes-moth,  history  of  the,  249. 
Coal-mines,  insect  remains  in,  210. 
Cochineal  insect,  207. 
Cockchafer,  grub,  cocoon  and  beetle, 

252. 
Cockle,  figure  of,  III;  siphons  of, 

113;  leaping  foot  of,  113. 
Cockroaches,  clever  escape  of,  2 1 7  ; 

figure     of,     216;     enemies     of, 

218. 
Cocoon  carried  by  spider,  195;  how 

the  moth  emerges  from  a,  245. 
Cocoons  of  ants,  280 ;   of  spiders, 

190,   194;  of  moths,  245;  leaf, 

247  ;  hairy,  247  ;  rolled  down  a 

slope  by  ants,  297. 
Ccelenterata,  55. 

Coleoptera,  term  explained,  251. 
Colour,  changing  of  octopus,  129; 

in  mantle  of  mollusca,  105. 
Comatula  (Antedon)  rosacea,  90. 
Coral,  history  of  red,   71  ;  section 

of,  73  ;  growth  of  white,  74. 
Crab,  development  of  a,  167-169  ; 

changing   his   shell,    169  ;    mate 

watching  a  soft,  170;  common, 

167;  fiddler-crab,  172;  racing-, 


!735  fro?-.  '73;  robber-,  173; 

land-,  1 73  ;  carrying  a  sponge,  38. 
Cray-fish,  159. 
Crickets,  night  insects,  2 1 5. 
Crinoids  or  stone-lilies,  78. 
Crops  of  grass  round   ants'  nests, 

294-296. 
Crustacea,    1 54  >  of  arctic  regions, 

1 60  ;  their  rank  among  animals, 

II. 

Crustacean  parasites,  1 77^ 
Crustaceans,  various  forms  of,  176. 
Cuckoo-spit  insect,  205. 
Cup-coral  of  Devonshire,  75- 
Cuttle-fish,    eggs  and  <(bone"  of, 

130. 
Cypris,  freshwater  crustacean,  177- 

DADDY-LONG-LEGS,  showing  his 
balancers,  262 ;  ovipositor  of 
mother,  263. 

Daisy  anemone,  68  ;  young  of,  69. 

Daly  ell,  Sir  J.,  on  sea-cucumber, 
100. 

Darwin,  Mr.,  on  octopus  taking 
aim,  128;  on  structure  of  acorn- 
barnacle,  176. 

Devonshire  cup-coral,  75. 

Diptera,  or  two-winged  flies,  261. 

Disk  of  agricultural  ant-nest,  295. 

Distoma  militare,  138. 

Divisions  of  animal  life,  IO. 

Doris  pilosa,  a  sea-slug,  124. 

Dragon-fly,  life  of  the,  222-225. 

Dyticus  marginalis,  true  water- 
beetle,  256. 

EARTHWORM,  structure  and  habits 
of,  146  ;  cocoons  of  the,  147. 

Earwig  mother,  218. 

Echinodermata,  82. 

Echinus,  tube-feet  of,  94. 

Ecitons  or  hunting  ants,  297. 

Education  of  life,  6. 

Edwardsia  calimorphia,  68. 

Eggs  of  ants,  279 ;  of  aphides 
cared  for  by  ants,  292  ;  uf 


3o6 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


campanulina  carried  in  a  jelly- 
bell,  60  ;  of  cockroach  in  a  case, 
217;  of  cuttle-fish,  130;  of  ar- 
gonaut, 131  ;  of  octopus,  131  ; 
of  snails  and  slugs,  122  ;  of 
spiders,  190-194. 

Elastic-ringed  animals,  135. 

Elytra  of  bettles,  251. 

Encrinites  or  fossil  stone-lilies,  79. 

Enemies  of  the  sponge,  43. 

Eolis  coronata,  a  sea-slug,  124. 

Emerton,  Mr.,  on  spider's  web,  187. 

Ephemera,  life  of  the,  221. 

Erber  watching  trapdoor  spiders, 
193- 

Eriosoma  lanigerum,  apple  aphis, 
205. 

Eyes  of  ants,  273  ;  of  caterpillar 
and  butterfly,  241  ;  of  prawn, 
161;  of  the  star-fish,  88;  of 
the  sea-urchin,  96;  of  the  snail, 
1 20  ;  of  whirligig  beetles  divided, 
258;  of  the  young  oyster,  no; 
of  a  young  crab,  1 68. 

FABRE,  M. ,  on  dung- feeding  beetles, 
259- 

Fairy-shrimps,  gills  of,  177. 

Feather  star-fish,  infancy  of  a,  78- 
90 ;  full-grown,  89,  90. 

Feet,  tube-,  of  echinodermata,  80- 
94 ;  true  and  false  of  a  cater- 
pillar, 239. 

Fiddle-crab  seizing  the  hermit,  171. 

Fire-flies,  260. 

Five-fingered  star-fish,"  80-84. 

Flea,  early  life  of  a,  234. 

Flesh-feeding  molluscs,  118. 

Flies,  various  two-winged,  262. 

Flint-shells,  29,  30. 

Flint-sponges,  46. 

Fly,  house-,  where  hatched,  263  ; 
size  of  brain  of,  265. 

Flukes  or  flat  worms,  138. 

Foraging  ants,  297. 

Foraminifera,  definition  of  name, 
23;  growth  of  perforated,  27. 


Forbes,  Prof.,  on  star-fish's  wink, 
89 ;  on  contortions  of  brittle 
star,  89.. 

Forel,  M.,  on  ant  migrations,  284. 

Formic  acid  used  in  ant-battles, 
285. 

Formica  fusca,  negro-ant,  288; 
-rufa,  277;  -sanguinea,  slave-mak- 
ing ant,  288. 

Frog-hopper  insect,  Aphrophora, 
206. 

GADFLY,  early  life  of,  263  ;  food 
of  the  two  sexes,  262. 

Ganglia  of  leech,  144. 

Garden  ant  lives  underground,  277 ; 
keeps  aphides,  287  ;  its  mode  of 
fighting,  288. 

Gaucho  or  lasso-thrower,  5 1 . 

Gem-pimplet,  68. 

Gerris,  a  water-measurer,  208. 

Gills  of  fairy  shrimps,  177;  of 
land -crabs,  173;  of  May- grub, 
221  ;  of  octopus,  127  ;  of  nau- 
tilus, 133;  of  oyster,  108 ;  of 
sea  -  slugs,  124;  of  skeleton 
shrimp,  163;  of  prawn,  164. 

Gizzard  of  grasshopper,  213. 

Glass-rope  sponge,  46. 

Globigerina,  23,  27 ;  in  chalk,  28. 

Glow-worms,  260. 

Gnat,  history  of  the,  263-265. 

Goat-moth  caterpillar,  248. 

Goliath-beetle,  251. 

Gossamer  webs,  196. 

Gosse,  Mr.,  on  movement  of  scallop, 

112. 

Granaries  in  ant-hills,  294. 

Grass  crops  on  ants'  nest,  294,  295. 

Grasshopper,  early  origin  of  the, 
210;  large  green,  and  young, 
2 1 1  ;  spiracles  of,  212;  gizzard 
of,  213  ;  little  green,  is  a  locust, 
214;  general  structure  of,  21 1  ; 
laying  her  eggs,  211,  214;  cry 
of  the,  215. 

Grecian  Archipelago,  sponges  of,  35. 


INDEX. 


307 


Grub  feeding  on  aphides,  202-204; 

of  dragon-fly  feeding,  222. 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  sponges  of,  35. 
Gulliver  cited,  269. 

HAECKEL  on  eye  of  star-fish,  88  ; 
finding  Protogenes,  16;  cited, 
18,  29,  156. 

"  Hanging-bell  "  jelly-fish,  66. 

Harvesting  ants,  293. 

Harvest-bug  a  mite,  199. 

Head  of  ant,  273. 

Headless  mollusca,  in. 

Heads,  absence  of,  in  lower  ani- 
mals, 1 02. 

Helplessness  of  infant  hymenoptera, 
266. 

Hemiptera,  term  explained,  209. 

Hermit-crab,  parasites  of,  172; 
structure  and  habits  of,  170. 

Hertwig  on  nerves  of  medusae,  6l. 

Hill-ant,  structure  of,  271;  nests 
of,  277. 

Holdsworth,  Mr.,  on  birth  of  ane- 
mones, 69. 

Honey-stealing  caterpillars,  250. 

Honey-tubes  of  aphides,  203. 

Hop  harvest  destroyed  by  aphides, 
205. 

Horse,  gad-fly  hatched  inside  the, 
263 ;  -mussel,  pea-crab  in  the, 
136. 

Huber  on  slave-making  ants,  291, 
292. 

Hunting  ants,  297. 

Huxley  on  rate  of  increase  of  plants, 
4 ;  on  structure  of  acorn  bar- 
nacle, 174. 

Hydra,  figure  of,  51  ;  food  of,  52  ; 
lasso-cells  of  the,  53. 

Hydra  form  of  jelly-fish,  64. 

Hydrophilus  or  black  water-beetle, 
256. 

Hydrozoa,  55. 

Hymenoptera,  263. 

IANTHINA  or  ocean-snail,  125. 


Ichneumon  fly  placing  eggs,  267. 

India,  termites  or  white  ants  of,  225. 

Indian  Ocean  the  home  of  the 
nautilus,  133. 

Infusoria  and  their  origin,  20. 

Ink-bag  of  octopus,  127.  . 

Insects,  air-tubes  of,  213  ;  at  the 
head  of  invertebrates,  1 1  ;  com- 
plete metamorphosis  of,  233  ; 
paralysed  for  food,  267  ;  propor- 
tion of,  among  animals,  158  ; 
use  of  term,  155. 

Insect's  eye,  section  of  an,  224. 

"Insects  of  the  sea"  or  Crustacea, 
I56-IS9. 

Intelligence  of  ants,  298;  of  hymen- 
optera, 266. 

Invertebrata,  or  animals  without 
backbones,  300. 

Ireland,  feather-stars  of,  91. 

Italian  markets,  sea-urchins  in,  98. 

Italy,  coral  on  coasts  of,  73. 

JELLY-BELLS,  55,  59,  61. 

Jelly-fish,  their  rank  among  ani- 
mals, 10,  54 ;  small  weight  of 
solid  matter  in,  62  ;  food  of,  63 ; 
birth  and  childhood  of  the,  65. 

Johnstone,  Dr.,  on  sponges,  39. 

Jointed-footed  animals,  155. 

King-crabs,  177. 

Kingdoms,   animal  and  vegetable, 

10. 

Knobs,  in  stalk  of  ant's  body,  271. 

LAC  insect,  207. 

Lady-bird,  256. 

Lagena  23. 

Land-snails,  breathing  of,  1 20. 

Lankester,  Mr.  Ray,  on  insects,  156. 

La  Rochelle  damaged  by  termites, 

230. 

Lasius  niger,  272. 
Lasso-cells  of  the  hydra,  52. 
Lasso -throwers,  meaning  of  term, 

51  ;  various  forms  of,  54. 


3o8 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Leaf  and  stick  insects,  218. 
Leaf-miners  and  their  cocoons,  248. 
Leaf-rolling  caterpillars,  248. 
Leg  of  ant  bearing  combs,  273. 
Leech,  food  and  young  of,    145  ; 

nervous  system  of,  143-145. 
Leeches,  land,  of  Ceylon,  143. 
Lepidoptera,  explanation  of  term, 

240. 
Life,    various   forms   of,    2 ;    rapid 

increase  of,  4. 
Lima  building  a  nest,  1 12. 
Limax  maximus,  28,000  teeth  of, 

121. 

Lime-sponges,  figure  of,  44. 

Limpet,  figure  of,  114;  habits  of, 
117. 

Limulus  or  king-crab,  177. 

Lingthorn's  eye  winking,  89. 

Linnaeus,  on  division  "insecta,"  155. 

Liver-fluke,  139. 

Lobster,  breathing-gills  of  the,  164. 

Lobsters,  number  sold  in  London, 
159;  rapid  multiplication  of, 
172. 

Locust-swarms,  214. 

Long -worm,  Nemertes  Borlasia, 
137- 

Lowne,  Mr.,  on  size  of  fly's  brain, 
265  ;  on  spider's  web,  187. 

Lubbock,  Sir  J.,  on  ant-communi- 
cation, 274  ;  on  sorting  of  ant- 
grubs,  280 ;  on  age  of  ants,  281  ; 
on  ant-queen  working  alone,  282 ; 
on  ants  kept  alive  by  slave,  292  ; 
on  ants  storing  aphis  eggs,  292  ; 
on  kindness  of  ants ;  298 ;  on 
recognition  by  ants,  287. 

Lugworm,  150. 

Lyonnet  on  air-tubes  of  insects, 
213. 

McCoOK  on  Texas  ants,  295,  296. 
Madrepore  coral,  74. 
Madreporiform  tubercle,  87. 
Maggot  of  nut,  254;  of  pea,  255. 
Mandibles  of  ants,  uses  of,  275. 


Mantis  or  snatching  insect,  2 1 8. 

Mantle  of  mollusca  secreting  shell, 
104. 

"Mask"  of  dragon-fly  grub,  222. 

May-bug  or  cockchafer,  252. 

May-flies  do  not  eat,  220 ;  and 
their  grubs,  219-221. 

Meadow-ant  keeping  aphis  eggs, 
287. 

Mediterranean,  coral  of  the,  55,  71  ; 
harvesting  ants  of  the,  293 ;  large 
octopuses  of  the,  131  ;  sea-urchins 
of,  used  for  food,  98 ;  scorpions 
of  the,  1 80;  trap-door  spiders  of 
the,  193. 

Medusae,  freshwater,  54. 

Medusa's  head,  78. 

Membrane-winged  insects,  266. 

Metamorphosis  imperfect  in  cock- 
roach, 235  ;  of  crab,  169  ;  of 
gnat,  264  ;  of  insects,  233. 

Mermis,  a  thread-worm,  140. 

Mexico,  cochineal  insect  of,  207. 

Migrations  of  ants,  283. 

Miliolite  forming  its  shell,  24. 

Miliolites,  birth  of  young,  25. 

Mites,  land  and  water,  198  ;  para- 
sitic, 199. 

Moggridge,  Mr.  T.,  on  harvesting 
ants,  293  ;  on  seed  bitten  when 
sprouting,  294. 

Mollusca,  meaning  of  term,  104 ; 
shell -secreting  mantle  of,  104; 
naked-gilled,  123;  possible  rela- 
tionship to  worms,  134;  theirrank 
among  animals,  1 1  ;  vegetable- 
feeding,  114;  flesh-feeding,  118. 

Monads,  their  origin,  20,  31. 

Money-spinners,  196. 

Mosquito,  mouth  of,  263. 

Mother-of-pearl,  cause  of,  106. 

Moth,  sphinx-,  244;  silkworm-,  245; 
oak-eggar-,  246  ;  Burnet-,  246  ; 
procession-,  247  ;  Psyche-,  247  ; 
goat-,  248 ;  clothes-,  249. 

Moths  and  butterflies,  comparison  of, 
243  ;  and  their  cocoons,  245-248. 


INDEX. 


309 


Myrmica  molesta,  271. 
Mytilus,  figure  of,  in. 
Myzoxyle  mali,  apple-aphis,  205. 
Murie,  Dr.,  cited,  41. 
Mushroom,  tiny  beetles  in,  255. 
Mussels,  anchoring- threads  of,  ill. 

NAKED-GIT.LED  mollusca,  123. 
Nautilus,  structure  of,  133. 
Nereis,  a  sea- worm,  151. 
Nerve-winged  insects,  219. 
Nervous  system  of  medusae,  61  ;  of 

star-fish,  86  ;  of  mollusca,  109  ; 

of  leech,   144;  of  spider,    189; 

of  prawn,  165  ;  of  a  caterpillar, 

238  ;  of  ants,  276. 
Nests  of  ants,  279  ;    formation  of 

new,  283. 

Noctiluca,  or  night-glow,  15, 19,  21. 
Neuroptera,  early  origin  of,  219. 
Newport,   Mr.,  on  metamorphosis, 

236. 

Nodosarina,  23. 

Nummulites  forming  the  Alps,  27. 
"  Nurses  "  of  flukes,  138. 
Nurses  helping  young  ant,  281. 
Nut-weevil,  254. 

OAK-EGGAR  moth,  246. 
Ocean-snail,  lanthina,  125. 
Octopus  shooting  backwards,  127; 

complicated   structure   of,    126; 

inky   fluid  of,    128 ;  suckers   in 

arms  of,  129  ;  mother  and  eggs, 

131  ;  changing  colour  of,  129. 
CEconoma,     or    leaf  -  cutting     ant, 

297. 

Operculum  of  mollusca,  105. 
Ophiocoma  bellis,  84. 
Orang-outang,  helplessnessof  young, 

266. 

Orbitolite  shells,  23,  26,  28. 
Orthoptera,  term  explained,  210. 
Ostrea  edulis,  figure  of,  108. 
Outcasts  of  animal  life,  135. 
Ovipositor  of  grasshopper,  211 ;  of 

bot-fly,  263. 


Oyster,  infancy  and  perils  of  the, 
109  ;  structure  of  the,  107, 108. 
Oyster-beds,  107. 

PACIFIC,  coral  islands,  55,  71,  74. 

Painted  Pufflet,  68. 

Parasites,  136,  141,  177,  199,  260  ; 
degradation  of,  141. 

Parasitic  beetles,  260 ;  mites  and 
ticks,  199. 

Paris  houses  built  of  orbitolite  lime- 
stone, 28. 

Pea-crab,  a  parasite  of  the  horse- 
mussel,  136. 

Pea-maggot,  255. 

Pearls,  how  formed,  106. 

Pecten,  in. 
Pen  "  of  calamaries,  130. 

Penerepolis,  23. 

Pentacrinus  caput-medusse,  78. 

Periwinkle,  formation  of  shell  of, 
105;  inside  of  a,  115;  toothed 
rasp  of  the,  1 1 6  ;  gills  of  the, 
117. 

Pholas,    burrowing  habits    of  the, 

US- 

Phosphorescence,  caused  by  jelly- 
bells,  6 1  ;  from  one  jelly-fish, 
64;  of  flies  and  gloworms,  260  ; 
on  the  sea,  15,  21. 

Phosphoridae,  66. 

Phryganea  or  caddis-fly,  221. 

Physematium,  29. 

Pincers  of  scorpion,  179* 

Pinna,  anchoring  threads  of,  1 1 2. 

Planaria,  137. 

Plants,  rate  of  increase  of,  4. 

Plant-bugs,  207. 

Plant-lice,  202. 

Plates  of  brittle-star,  92  ;  of  sea- 
urchin,  95-97. 

Poison-dart  of  scorpion,  179;  -fangs 
of  spider,  183-188. 

Polycistinse  or  flint  builders,  30. 

Polyergus  rufescens,  mode  of  fight- 
ing, 288;  helplessnessof,  291. 

Polypites,  nature  of,  57. 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Polyzoa,  not  dealt  with,  103,  note. 
Portuguese  man-of-war,  66. 
Prawn,  structure  of  the,   160-164; 

shedding  his  skin,  165  ;  cleaning 

himself,  1 66. 

Prickly-skinned  animals,  82. 
Princesses  among  ants,  282. 
Procession-moths  and  their  cocoons, 

247. 

Protamoeba,  1 8. 

Protogenes,  or  thread-slime,  1 6. 
Protozoa,  31. 

Psyche-caterpillars  in  tubes,  247. 
Pteropods  or  wing-footed  snails,  126. 
Pupa  of  a  butterfly,  240. 
Pyramids    formed     of    nummulite 

limestone,  28. 

QUEEN  ANTS  laying  eggs,  279 ;  no 

jealousy  between,  282. 
Queen-termite,  228. 

RADIATE  plan  of  structure,  96. 

Radiolarise  or  flint-builders,  30. 

Rasp  (radula)  of  the  periwinkle,  1 16. 

Rays,  of  star-fish,  85  ;  of  brittle- 
star,  90 ;  of  sea-urchin,  95  ;  of 
sea-cucumber,  99. 

Razor-fish,  figure  of,  III;  burrow- 
ing habits  of,  113. 

Red  coral,  growth  of,  72. 

Red  mite  of  vines,  199. 

Red  Sea,  sponges  of,  35. 

Ringed  bodies  of  insects,  155. 

Roads  made  by  ants,  284. 

Romanes,  Mr.,  on  nerves  of  medusae, 
61. 

Rose,  group  of  aphides  on  a,  202. 

Rosy  feather-star,  89. 

"Rot"  in  sheep,  139. 

Rotalia,  23-27. 

Rotifera,  137. 

SAGARTIA  viduata,  S.  bellis,   and 

S.  troglodytes,  68. 
Sagartiaaae,  special  darts  of  the,  69. 
Sand-hopper,  Talitrus,  163. 


Sand-wasp,    paralysing  insects   for 

food,  267. 

Saw-flies,  young,  267. 
Scallop,  figure  of,  Hi;  eyes  of  the, 

112. 

Scarabseus  beetle,  258. 

Scent  of  moths  attracting  mates, 
250. 

Schafer,  on  nerves  of  medusae,  61. 

Schultze,  on  birth  of  miliolites,  25. 

Scorpion,  structure  of,  1 80 ;  figure 
of  with  cricket,  179. 

Sea-anemone.     See  anemone. 

Sea-cucumber,  infancy  of  a,  82 ; 
power  of  regrowth  in  the,  10, 
100  ;  structure  and  food  of,  99. 

Sea-fir,  Sertularia  cupressina,  58. 

Sea-mouse  or  Aphrodite,  150. 

Sea-nymphs,  126. 

Sea-oak  coralline,  figure  of,  56. 

Sea-slugs,  123  ;  figures  of,  124  ; 
food  of,  124. 

Sea-urchin,  infancy  of  a,  81;  walk- 
ing on  a  rock,  94 ;  stripped  of 
its  spines,  95  ;  wrapped  in  sea- 
weed, 93  ;  structure  of  a,  95  ; 
growth  of  shell  of,  96  ;  mouth  of, 
97 ;  food  of,  97 ;  tube-feet  of, 
94. 

Sea-worms,  fixed,  148  ;  active,  151. 

Seeds  collected  by  harvesting  ants, 
293- 

Sepiola  blowing  a  hole  in  sand,  130. 

Serpula,  its  tube  and  tentacles, 
148. 

Sertularia  cupressina,  58  ;  S.  plum- 
ula,  56. 

Sexton  or  "burying"  beetles,  259. 

Sheath-winged  insects,  251. 

Shell  of  argonaut,  a  cradle,  132 ; 
of  sea-urchin,  96. 

Shell-builders,  the  simplest,  22. 

Shrimp,  hand  of  the,  163. 

Silkworm,  how  it  spins,  245. 

Simplest  children  of  life,  10,  14. 

Siphon  of  octopus,  127. 

Skeletons  of  sponges,  43-49. 


INDEX. 


Skeleton,  outside,  of  insects,  54, 
157- 

Skeleton  shrimp,  Caprella,  163. 

Slave-making  ants,  288  ;  helpless- 
ness of  one  kind,  291. 

Slug,  figure  of,  122;  hidden  shell 
in  back  of,  121. 

Smeathman  on  termites,  228,  231. 

Snails,  metamorphosis  of  worms  in. 
1 38  ;  winter  shelter  of,  1 2 1  ; 
eyes  and  breathing  chamber  of, 

120. 

Snake-locked  anemone,  68. 

Snare-weavers,  179-200. 

Solen,  in. 

South    America,     calamary's     arm 

from,  131. 
Sphex  paralysing  insects  for  food, 

267. 
Sphinx  moths  and  their  caterpillars, 

244. 

Spicules  of  sponges,  45. 
Spider,    nervous   system    of,    189 ; 

males    feeble    and    small,    190 ; 

cocoons     of,     190,     191,      195; 

structure  of,  183;  entangling  her 

victim,  1 88;  manner  of  spinning 

web,  184. 
Spiders,     house,     web     of,     185  ; 

hunting-,  195  ;  tunnelling-,  191  ; 

water-,     196;    trap-door-,    192; 

gigantic,  197. 

Spines  of  sea-urchin,  94,  97. 
Spinnerets  of  spider,  184. 
Spiracles  of  grasshopper,  212. 
Spirorbis,  148. 

Sponge,     British,     37  ;    flint,    47  ; 
„  section  of,  magnified,  46  ;  lime, 

44;  cup,  48;  rank  of,  35,   41  ; 

spicules  of,  45  ;  homes  of,  35  ; 

section  of  bath-,  41 ;  -fisheries,  36. 
Sponge-animal,   growth  of,  39-42  ; 

eRSs  °f>  37»  38>  flesh  composition 

of,  35  ;  tissue,  34. 
Sponges,  boring,  destroying  oysters, 

no. 
Spur  on  leg  of  ant,  271-273. 


Squids,  ten  -  armed  cephalopods, 
130. 

Star-fish,  eyes  of  the,  88;  infancy 
of  common,  80  ;  its  rank  among 
animals,  10;  various  forms  and 
sizes  of,  101  ;  walking  apparatus 
of  the,  83-86  ;  figure  of  common, 
84 ;  section  of  a,  showing  struc- 
ture, 85  ;  food  of  the,  87  ;  water- 
hole  of  the,  85. 

Staveley,  Miss,  on  burying  beetles, 
259-. 

Stone -lily  the  young  of  feather- 
star,  91. 

Stone-lilies  or  crinoids,  78. 

Straight-winged  insects,  2IO. 

Struggle  for  existence,  5-7,  12. 

Suckers  in  arms  of  octopus,  129. 

Sun-slime,  29. 

Sympathy,  how  far  existing,  in  ants, 
298. 

Synapta  a  kind  of  sea-cucumber, 
101. 

TEETH  in  lobster's  stomach,  168; 
ofmollusca,  116. 

Tennent,  Sir  E.,  on  Ceylon  leeches, 
143- 

Tentacles  of  hydra,  53;  of  sea- 
cucumber,  83;  of  snail,  120. 

Terebella,  or  shell-binding  worm, 
148,  149. 

Teredo,  a  mollusc,  113. 

Termites,  or  white  ants,  225-231  ; 
figures  of,  226  ;  mode  of  working 
of,  227,  229 ;  queen-cell  of  the, 

228  ;  eggs  and  nurseries  of  the, 

229  ;  marching  columns  of,  23 1 ; 
captured  by  ants,  2  30. 

Termite  mounds  of  Africa,  230. 
Testacella,  figure  of,  with  shell,  123. 
Texas,  agricultural  ant  of,  295. 
Textularia,  23. 
Thorax,  definition  of  term,  156  ;  of 

grasshopper,  212. 
Thread-slime  or  Frotogenes,  1 6. 
Ticks,  136 


312 


LIFE  AND  HER  CHILDREN. 


Tiger-beetle  grub  feeding,  256. 

Tools  of  an  animal  grow  upon  it,  7. 

Tortoise-shell  butterfly,  life  of  the, 
236. 

Trachea  or  breathing-tube,  212. 

Trap-door  spiders,  192. 

Trepangs,  I  or. 

Trichina  in  pork,  140. 

Trilobites,  173. 

Tube-feet  of  star-fish,  80 ;  of  sea- 
urchin,  94. 

Tube-hydra  or  Tubularia,  58. 

Tube-sucker  or  Acineta,  21. 

Turkey,  sponges  of,  49. 

Two-winged  flies,  261. 

UNIVALVE  SHELLS,  formation  of, 

1 06. 
Uraster  rubens,  84. 

VEGETABLE- FEEDING  MOLLUSCA, 

114. 

Venus'  Basket,  figure  of,  47. 
Vertebrata  and  their  divisions,  12. 
Vesicles,  supplying  the  tube-feet  of 

star-fish,  87. 
Victoria  Regia,  Medusa  in  tank  of, 

54- 
Vorticella  or  bell-flower,  21. 

WALLACE  on  rate  of  increase  of 

birds,  4  ;  cited  266. 
Wars  of  ants,  285. 
Wasp,  spider  releasing  a,  1 89. 
Wasps,  nests  of,  267. 
Water-boatman,  Notonecta,  208. 
Water-cresses,  flat-worms  on,  137. 


Water- flea    (Daphne),    159,    177; 

-measurers,    207  ;    -mites,    136, 

199;  -snails,  120;  -spider,  196. 
Weapons   of  animals,    meaning  of 

term,  7;  of  sea- worms,  150. 
Web  of  garden   spider,    185  ;    of 

house  spider,  191  ;  of  tunnelling 

spider,  191. 
Weevils,  254. 

West  Indies,  land-crab  of  the,  173. 
Wings  of  bugs  different  from  beetles, 

209  ;  of  butterflies,  240. 
Winged  ant  killed  by  slave-makers, 

291. 

Winged  ants,  282. 
Wing-footed  snails,  126. 
Whale  feeding  on  jelly-fish,  76. 
Whelk   and   eggs,   figure  of,    1 1 8  ; 

drilling  rasp  of,  119;  young  of, 

free-swimming,  119. 
Whelk-shell,  hermit  crab  in  a,  1 70. 
Whip-cells  of  a  sponge,  40. 
White  ants,  not  true  ants,  225,  231. 
White,  Mr.  Charters,  on  a  fish  within 

a  sea-anemone,  69. 
Wood-louse  a  crustacean,  1 73. 
Worms,  their  rank  among  animals, 

II,     135;    parasitic,     138-141; 

sea-,  151  ;  ribbon-,  wheel-,  and 

long-,  137. 
Workers  of  ants  imperfect  females, 

276. 

YELLOW     ant     tending     eggs     of 
aphides,  287. 

ZYGENA  filipendula,  246. 


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chemistry.  Not  only  is  it  full  and  comprehensive  and  remarkably  clear  and 
methodical,  but  it  is  up  to  the  very  latest  moment,  and  it  has  been,  moreover, 

?rop'ired  in  a  way  to  secure  the  greatest  excellences  in  such  a  treatise." — The 
'opular  Science  Monthly. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  CIVILIZATION  AND  THE  PRIMITIVE  CON- 
DITION OF  MAN,  Mental  and  Social  Condition  of  Savages. 

By  Sir  JOHN  LTTBBOCK,  Bart.,  F.  R.  S.,  President  of  the  British  Association. 
With  Illustrations.  Fourth  edition,  with  numerous  Additions.  8vo,  clctb. 
Price,  $5.00.  

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THE   BRAIN  AND   ITS   FUNCTIONS.    By  J.  LCYS,  Physician  to  the 
Hospice  de  la  Salpetriere.    With  Illustrations.    12mo.    Cloth,  $1.50. 


"No  living  physiologist  is  better  entitled  to  speak  with  authority  upon  the 
ructure  and  functions  of  the  brain  than  Dr.  Luys.  His  studies  on  the  anatomy 
of  the  nervous  system  are  acknowledged  to  be  the  fullest  and  most  systematic 


evor  undertaken.  Dr.  Liiys  supports  his  conclusions  not  only  by  his  own  ana 
tomical  researches,  but  also  by  many  functional  observations  of  various  other 
physiologists,  including  of  course  Professor  Ferrier's  now  classical  experi- 
ments."—^. James's  Gazette. 

"  Dr.  Luys,  at  the  head  of  the  great  French  Insane  Asylum,  is  one  of  the  most 
eminent  and  successful  investigators  of  cerebral  science  now  living;  and  he  has 
given  unquestionably  the  clearest  and  most  interesting  brief  account  yet  made  of 
the  structure  and  operations  of  the  brain.  We  have  been  fascinated  by  this  vol- 
ume more  than  by  any  other  treatise  we  have  yet  seen  on  the  machinery  of  sen- 
sibility and  thought ;  and  we  have  been  instructed  not  only  by  much  that  is  new, 
but  by  many  sagacious  practical  hints  such  as  it  is  well  for  everybody  to  under- 
stand."— The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

THE  CONCEPTS  AND  THEORIES  OF  MODERN  PHYSICS.  Ty 

J.  B.  STALLO.    12uio.    Cloth,  $1.75. 

"Judge  Stallo's  work  is  an  inquiry  into  the  validity  of  those  mechanical  con- 
ceptions of  the  universe  which  are  now  held  as  fundamental  in  physical  science. 
He  takes  up  the  leading  modern  doctrines  which  are  based  upon  this  mechanical 
conception,  such  as  the  atomic  constitution  of  matter,  the  kinetic  theory  of  gases, 
the  conservation  of  energy,  the  nebular  hypothesis,  and  other  views,  to  find  how 
much  stands  upon  solid  empirical  ground,  and  how  much  rests  upon  metaphys- 
ical speculation.  Since  the  appearance  of  Dr.  Draper's  '  Religion  and  Science,' 
no  book  has  been  published  in  the  country  calculated  to  make  so  deep  an  impres- 
sion on  thoughtful  and  educated  readers  as  this  volume.  .  .  .  The  range  and 
minuteness  of  the  author's  learning."  the  acuteness  of  his  reasoning,  and  the 
singular  precision  nnd  clearness  of  his  style,  are  qualities  which  very  seldom 
have  been  jointly  exhibited  in  a  scientific  treatise.  "—New  York  Sun. 

THE  FORMATION  OF  VEGETABLE  MOULD,  THROUGH  THE 
ACTION  OF  WORMS,  WITH  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THEIR 
HABITS.  By  CHARLES  DARWIN,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  8.,  author  of  "  On  the 
Origin  of  Species,"  etc.,  etc.  With  Illustrations.  12mo,  cloth.  Price,  $1.50. 

"  Mr.  Darwin's  little  volume  on  the  habits  and  instincts  of  earth-worms  is  no 
Jess  marked  than  the  earlier  or  more  elaborate  efforts  of  his  genius  by  freshness 
of  observation,  unfailing  power  of  interpreting  and  correlating  facts,  and  logical 
vigor  in  generalizing  upon  them.  The  main  purpose  of  the  work  is  to  point  out 
the  share  which  worms  have  taken  in  the  formation  of  the  layer  of  vegetable 
mould  which  covers  the  whole  surface  of  the  land  in  every  moderately  humid 
country.  All  lovers  of  nature  will  unite  in  thanking  Mr.  Darwin  for  the  new  and 
interesting  light  he  has  thrown  upon  a  subject  PO  long  overlooked,  yet  so  full  of 
interest  and  instruction,  as  the  structure  and  the  labors  of  the  earth-worm." — 
Sat  trday  Review. 

"  Respecting  worms  as  among  the  most  useful  portions  of  animate  nature, 
Dr.  Darwin  relates,  in  this  remarkable  book,  their  structure  and  habits,  the  part 
they  have  played  in  the  burial  of  ancient  buildings  and  the  denudation  of  the 
land,  in  the  disintegration  of  rocks,  the  preparation  of  soil  for  the  growth  of 
plants,  and  in  the  natural  history  of  the  world."— -Boston  Advertiser. 

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THE  FUNDAMENTAL,  CONCEPTS  OF  MODERN  PHILOSOPHIC 
THOUGHT,  CRITICALLY  AND  HISTORICALLY  CONSID- 
ERED. By  RUDOLPH  EUCKEN,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  in  Jena.  With  an 
Introduction  by  NOAH  POBTEK,  President  of  Yale  College.  One  vol.,  12mo, 
304  pages.  Cloth.  Price,  $1.75. 

President  Porter  declares  of  this  work  that  "  there  are  few  books  within  his 
knowledge  which  are  better  fitted  to  aid  the  student  who  wishes  to  acquaint  him- 
self with  the  course  of  modern  speculation  and  scientific  thinking,  and  to  form 
an  intelligent  estimate  of  nioBt  of  the  current  theories." 

MIND  IN  THE  LOWER  ANIMALS  IN  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE. 

By  W.  LAUDEB  LINDSAY,  M.  D.,  F.  K.  S.  E.,  etc.    2  vols.,  8vo.    Cloth,  £4.00. 

"  The  author  of  this  work,  which,  regarded  merely  as  an  accumulation  of 
verified  and  classified  facts,  is  a  unique  and  precious  contribution  to  the  data  of 
comparative  psychology,  claims  that  he  entered  on  his  inquiry  without  any  theory 
to  defend,  support,  or  illustrate.  We  are  bound  to  say  that,  while  his  general 
conclusions  are  boldly  and  continually  avowed,  his  claim  of  fairness  and  caution 
is  justified  by  his  method  of  examining  particular  phenomena  ;  that  he  seems 
willing  at  all  times  to  renounce  any  impression  or  belief  which  ie  shown  to  be 
scientifically  untenable." — New  York  Sun. 

"In  this  work — two  volumes  of  over  500  pages— Dr.  Lindsay  marshals  a  pro- 
portionately large  number  of  facts  against  those  philosophers  who  maintain  that 
the  intelligence  of  man  differs  in  kind  and  not  simply  in  degree  from  that  of  the 
lower  animals.  It  is  one  purpose  of  his  hook  to  show  that  the  nsain  differences 
between  man  and  the  lower  animals  exist  rather  in  their  physical  than  in  their 
mental  structure.  In  this  way  of  thinking,  all  animals  possess  not  the  semblance 
of,  but  the  true  substance  of  mind  and  will."— New  York  World. 

"  So  far  as  we  are  aware  there  has  been  no  treatise  upon  the  subject  of  animal 
intelligence  so  broad  in  its  foundations,  so  well  considered,  or  so  scientific  in  its 


methods  of  inquiry,  as  that  which  has  been  prepared  by  Dr.  W.  Lander  Lindsay 
in  two  large  volumes,  the  first  being  devoted  to  a  study  of  animal  mind  in  health, 
and  the  second  to  animal  mind  in  disease.  We  may  safely  say  that  his  vvcrk  is, 


in  some  respects,  the  most  important  essay  of  the  kind  that  has  yet  been  under- 
taken. His  observations  have  been  supplemented  by  a  thorough  mastery  of  the 
history  and  literature  of  the  subject,  and  hence  his  conclusions  rest  upon  the 
broadest  possible  foundation  of  safe  induction.  There  is  a  eood  analytical  index 
to  the  book,  as  there  ought  to  be  to  every  work  of  the  kind." — New  YorkEcening 

THE  ELEMENTARY  PRINCIPLES  OF  SCIENTIFIC  AGRICULT- 
URE. By  N.  T.  LUPTON,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Vanderbilt 
University,  Nashville,  Tenn.  18mo.  Cloth,  Price,  45  cents. 

A  GLOSSARY  OF  BIOLOGICAL,  ANATOMICAL,  AND  PHYSIO- 
LOGICAL TERMS.  By  THOMAS  DUNMAN.  Small  8vo.  Cloth.  l(il 
pages.  Price,  $1.00. 

"  It  his  been  the  author's  task  to  furnish  here  a  small  and  convenient  but  very 
complete  glossary  of  those  terms  ;  and  he  has  done  this  so  well,  both  in  his  choice 
of  terms  for  definition  and  in  his  clear  exposition  of  their  etymological  and  tech- 
nical meaning,  as  to  loave  nothing  lo  be  desired  in  this  direction." — New  York 
Evening  Post. 

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SUICIDE  :  An  Essay  in  Comparative  Moral  Statistics.  By  HENRY  MOESELLI,  Pro- 
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"  Suicide  "  is  a  scientific  inquiry,  on  the  basis  of  the  statistical  method,  into  the  laws 
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siders the  increase  of  suicide  in  different  countries,  and  the  comparison  of  nations, 
races,  and  periods  in  its  manifestation.  The  influences  of  age,  sex.  constitution,  cli- 
mate, season,  occupation,  religion,  prevailing  ideas,  the  elements  of  character,  and  the 
tendencies  of  civilization,  arc  comprehensively  analyzed  in  their  bearing  upon  the  pro- 
pensity to  sclt-destruction.  Professor  Morselli  is  an  eminent  European  authority  on 
this  subject.  It  is  accompanied  by  colored  maps  illustrating  pictorially  the  results  cl 
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VOLCANOES  :  What  they  Are  and  what  they  Teach.    By  J.  W.  JTTDD, 

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geological,  and  meteorological  inquiry  converge  upon  the  grand  problem  of  the  interior 
.constitution  of  the  earth,  and  the  vast  influence  of  subterranean  agencies.  .  .  .  His 
book  is  very  tar  from  being  a  mere  dry  description  of  volcanoes  and  their  eruptions;  it 
i8  rather  a  presentation  of  the  terrestrial  facts  and  laws  with  which  volcanic  phenomena 
are  associated."— Pojmlur  Science  Monthly. 

"  The  volume  before  us  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  science  manuals  we  have  read  for 
some  time." — Athenaeum. 

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a  fair  idea  in  a  short  review."— Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

THE  SUN.  By  C.  A.  Yotrxo.  Ph.  D.,  IX.  D.,  Professor  of  Astronomy  in  the  College 
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ments for  observing  it,  gone  to  all  quarters  of  the  world  in  search  of  the  best  places 
and  opportunities  to  watch  it,  and  has  contributed  important  discoveries  that  have 
oxlendc'l  our  knowledge  of  it. 

"  It  would  take  a  cyclopu-dia  to  represent  all  that  has  been  done  toward  clearing  up 
the  solar  mysteries.  Professor  Young  has  summarized  the  information,  and  presented 
it  in  a  form" completely  available  for  general  readers.  There  is  no  rhetoric  in  his  book ; 
he  trusts  the  grandeur  of  his  theme  to  kindle  interest  and  impress  the  feelings.  His 
statements  are  plain,  direct,  clear,  and  condensed,  though  ample  enough  for  his  purpose, 
and  the  substance  of  what  is  generally  wanted  will  be  found  accurately  given  in  his 
pages." — Popular  Science  Monthly. 

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tions, but  also  other  illusions  arising  from  that  capacity  for  error  which  belongs  essen- 
tially to  rational  human  nature.  The  author  has  endeavored  to  keep  to  a  strictly  scien- 
tific treatment— that  is  to  say,  the  description  and  class! lication  of  acknowledged  errors, 
and  the  exposition  of  thorn  by  a  reference  to  their  psychical  and  physical  conditions. 

"  This  is  not  a  technical  work,  but  one  of  wide  popular  interest,  in  the  principles  and 
results  of  which  every  one  is  concerned.  The  illusions  of  perception  of  the  senses  and 
of  dreams  are  first  considered,  and  then  the  author  passes  to  the  illusions  of  introspec- 
tion, eiTors  of  insight,  illusions  of  memory,  and  illusions  of  belief.  The  work  is  a  note- 
worthy contribution  to  the  original  progress  of  thought,  and  may  be  relied  upon  as 
representing  the  present  state  of  knowledge  on  the  important  subject  to  which  it  ia 
devoted."— Popular  Science  Monthly. 

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TEXT-BOOK  OF  SYSTEMATIC  MINERALOGY.  By  HENRY  BAUER 
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ANTHROPOLOGY :  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Man  and  Civilization. 
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SCIENTIFIC  CULTURE,  AND  OTHER  ESSAYS.  By  JOSEPH  PARSONS 
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POPULAR  LECTURES  ON  SCIENTIFIC  SUBJECTS.  By  H.  HELM- 
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volume. 

THE  POWER  OF  MOVEMENT  IN  PLANTS.  By  CHARLES  DARWIN, 
LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  assisted  by  FRANCIS  DARWIN.  With  Illustrations.  12mo, 
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"  Mr.  Darwin's  latest  study  of  plant-life  shows  no  abatement  of  his  power  of 
work  or  his  habits  of  fresh  and  original  observation.  We  have  learned  to  expect 
from  him  at  intervals,  never  much  prolonged,  the  results  of  special  research  in 
some  by-path  or  other  subordinated  to  the  main  course  of  the  biological  system 
associated  with  his  name;  and  it  has  been  an  unfailing  source  of  interest  to  see 
the  central  ideas  of  the  evolution  and  the  continuity  of  life  developed  in  detail 
through  a  series  of  special  treatises,  each  wellnigh  exhaustive  of  the  materials 
available  for  its  subject." — Saturday  Review. 

A  PHYSICAL  TREATISE  ON  ELECTRICITY  AND  MAGNETISM. 

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investigator  and  every  teacher  who  goes  beyond  the  merest  rudiments  must  needs 
equip  himself.  There  is  certainly  no  book  in  English— we  think  there  is  none  ip  any 
other  language — which  covers  quite  the  same  ground.  It  records  the  most  recent  ad- 
vances in  the  experimental  treatment  of  electrical  problems,  it  describes  with  minute 
Carefulness  the  instruments  and  methods  in  use  in  physical  laboratories,  and  is  prodi- 
gal of  beautifully  executed  diagrams  and  drawings  made  to  scale." — London  Timts. 

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GENERAL  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  MUSCLES  AND  NERVES.    By  Dr.  I 

ROSENTHAL,  Professor  of  Physiology  at  the  University  of  Erlangen.  With 
eeventy-flve  Woodcuts.  ("  International  Scientific  Series.")  12mo,  cloth, 
$1.50. 

"The  attempt  at  a  connected  account  of  the  general  physiology  of  muscles 
and  nerves  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  the  first  of  its  kind.  The  general  data  for  this 
branch  of  science  have  been  gained  only  within  the  past  thirty  years." — Extract 
from  Preface. 

SIGHT  :  An  Exposition  of  the  Principles  of  Monocular  and  Binocular  Vision 
By  JOSEPH  LE  CONTE,  LL. D.,  author  of  "Elements  of  Geology";  "Re- 
ligion and  Science  " ;  and  Professor  of  Geology  and  Natural  History  in  the 
University  of  California.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  12mo,  cloth,  $1.50. 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  find  an  American  book  which  can  rank  with  the  very  best 
of  foreign  works  on  this  subject.  Professor  Le  Conte  has  long  been  known  as 
an  original  investigator  in  this  department;  all  that  he  gives  us  is  treated  with 
a  master-hand."—  The  Nation. 

ANIMAL  LIFE,  as  affected  by  the  Natural  Conditions  of  Existence.  By 
KARL  SEMPER,  Professor  of  the  University  of  Wiirzburg.  With  2  Maps 
and  106  Woodcuts,  and  Index.  12mo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

"  This  is  in  many  respects  one  of  the  most  interesting  contributions  to 
zoological  literature  which  has  appeared  for  some  time." — Nature. 

THE  ATOMIC  THEORY.  By  AD.  WUBTZ,  Membre  de  1'Institut;  Doyen 
Honoraire  de  la  Faculte  de  Medecine ;  Professeur  a  la  Faculte  des  Sciences 
de  Paris.  Translated  by  E.  CLEMINSHAW,  M,  A.,  F.  C.S.,  F.  I.  C.,  Assist- 
ant Master  at  Sherborne  School.  12mo,  cloth,  $1.50. 

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in  its  historic  evolution  and  in  its  present  form.  And  perhaps  no  man  of  this 
age  could  have  been  selected  so  able  to  perform  the  task  in  a  masterly  way  as 
the  illustrious  French  chemist,  Adolph  Wiirtz.  It  is  impossible  to  convey  to  the 
reader,  in  a  notice  like  this,  any  adequate  idea  of  the  scope,  lucid  instrnctiveness, 
and  scientific  interest  of  Professor  Wurtz's  book.  The  modern  problems  of 
chemistry,  which  are  commonly  so  obscure  from  imperfect  exposition,  are  here 
made  wonderfully  clear  and  attractive." — The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

THE  CRAYFISH.  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  ZoOlogy.  By  Professor 
T.  H.  HUXLEY,  F.  R.  8.  With  82  Illustrations.  12mo,  cloth,  $1.75. 

"  Whoever  will  follow  these  pages,  crayfish  in  hand,  and  will  try  to  verify  for 
himself  the  statements  which  they  contain,  will  find  himself  brought  face  to  face- 
with  all  the  trreat  zoological  questions  which  excite  so  lively  an  interest  at  the 
present  day." 

"The  reader  of  this  valuable  monograph  will  lay  it  down  with  a  feeling  of 
wonder  at  the  amount,  and  variety  of  matter  which  has  been  got  out  of  so  seem- 
ingly slight  and  unpretending  a  subject." — Saturday  Review. 

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THE  HUMAN  SPECIES.  By  A.  DE  QUATREFAGES,  Professor  of  Anthro- 
pology in  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Paris.  12mo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

The  work  treats  of  the  unity,  origin,  antiquity,  and  original  localization  of 
the  human  species,  peopling  of  the  globe,  acclimatization,  primitive  man,  forma- 
tion of  the  human  races,  fossil  human  races,  present  human  races,  and  the  physi- 
cal and  psychological  characters  of  mankind. 

STUDENTS'  TEXT-BOOK  OF  COtOR  ;  or,  MODERN  CHROMAT- 
ICS. With  Applications  to  Art  and  Industry.  With  130  Original  Illus- 
trations, and  Frontispiece  in  Colors.  By  OGDEN  N,  ROOD,  Professor  of 
Physics  in  Columbia  College.  12mo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

"In  this  interesting  book  Professor  Rood,  who,  as  a  distinguished  Professor 
of  Physics  in  Columbia  College,  United  States,  must  be  accepted  as  a  competent 
authority  on  the  branch  of  science  of  which  he  treats,  deals  briefly  and  succinctly 
with  what  may  be  termed  the  scientific  rationale  of  his  subject.  But  the  chief 
value  of  his  work  is  to  be  attribute  ti  the  fact  that  he  is  himself  an  accom- 
plished arti«t  as  well  as  ^uo.iuritative  expounder  of  science."—  Edinburgh, 
Review,  October,  187C,  tn  u/»  article  on  "  The  Philosophy  of  Color." 


AS  A  SCIENCE.   By  ALEXANDER  BAIN,  LL.  D.  12mo,  cloth, 

$1.75. 

"  This  work  must  be  pronounced  the  most  remarkable  discussion  of  educa- 
tional problems  which  has  been  published  in  our  day.  We  do  not  hesitate  to 
bespeak  for  it  the  widest  circulation  and  the  most  earnest  attention.  It  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  every  school-teacher  and  friend  of  education  throughout  the 
land."—  New  York  Sun. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.    By 

ROBERT  H.  THURSTON,  A.  M.,  C.  B.,  Professor  of  Mechanical  Engineering 
in  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  etc.    With  163 
Illustrations,  including  15  Portraits.    12mo,  cloth,  $2.50. 
"  Professor  Thurston  almost  exhausts  his  subject  ;  details  of  mechanism  are 
followed  by  interesting  biographies  of  the  more  important  inventors.    If,  as  is 
contended  the  steam-engine  is  the  most  important  physical  agent  in  civilizing 
the  world,  its  history  is  a  desideratum,  and  the  readers  of  the  present  work  will 
agree  that  it  could  have  a  no  more  amusing  and  intelligent  historian  than  our 
author."—  Boston  Gazette. 

STUDIES  IN  SPECTRUM  ANALYSIS.  By  J.  NORMAN  LOCKTER,  F.  R.  8  , 
Correspondent  of  the  Institute  of  Prance,  etc.  With  60  Illustrations.  12mo, 
Cloth,  $2.50. 

"The  study  of  spectrum  analysis  is  one  fraught  with  a  pecnliar  fascination. 
and  some  of  the  author's  experiments  are  exceedingly  picturesque  in  their  re- 
sults They  are  so  lucidly  described,  too.  that  the  reader  keeps  on,  from  paire 
to  page  never  flawing  in  interest  in  the  natter  before  him,  nor  putting  down 
the  book  until  the  last  page  is  reached."—  New  York  Evening  Express. 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

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